Color Doppler investigation of ophthalmic artery in patients with malignant intraocular tumors

Abstract

Uveal melanoma is the most letal disease in the ophthalmological practice. According to the Lithuanian Cancer Registry the incidence of malignant melanoma is 0,8 new cases a year per 100 000 individuals. Every invasive examination of the patient increases the risk of metastases. That's why it is important to introduce the noninvasive methods. It is supposed that in the future in the management of intraocular tumors CDI may help to provide more precise histological diagnosis noninvasively. We investigated the eyes 32 patients with malignant intraocular tumors and 55 eyes of healthy persons in the Eye clinic of Kaunas Medical University Hospital.64,5 % of patients were 50 years of age or older.The systolic blood flow velocity of ophathalmic artery in the eyes with malignant tumors ( X ± SD = 55,4 cm/s ± 19,1 ) was greater than in the eyes of controls ( X ± SD = 51,8 ?m/s ± 14,8 ). We found strong correlation( r = 0,67 ) between the systolic blood flow in ophthalmic artery of the eye with tumor and contralateral eye of the patient.And also we found in inverse correlation ( r = - 0,3 ) between the systolic blood flow in ophthalmic artery of the eyes with malignant tumors and the tumor's heigh. Ophthalmic artery doplerography is noninvasive, comfortable for the patient investigation, giving additional information for evaluation of tumor vascularity, cell morphology and height.