ABSTRACT

Surgical treatment in uveal tumors can be done via iridectomy, partial lamellar sclerouvectomy (PLSU) and endoresection. Iridectomy is done in iris tumors without angle and ciliary body involvement. PLSU is performed in tumors with ciliary body and choroidal involvement. For this operation, a partial thickness scleral flap is dissected, the intraocular tumor is excised, and the flap is sutured back in position. PLSU surgery is done in iridociliary and ciliary body tumors with less than 3 clock hours of iris and ciliary body involvement and in choroidal tumors with a base diameter less than 15 mm. However, it can be employed in any size tumor for biopsy purposes. Potential complications of PLSU surgery include vitreous hemorrhage, cataract, retinal detachment, and endophthalmitis. Endoresection is a technique whereby the intraocular tumor is excised using vitrectomy techniques. The rationale for performing endoresection is based on the fact that irradiated uveal melanomas may be associated with exudation and neovascular glaucoma and removing the dead tumor tissue may contribute to better visual outcome. There are some centers where endoresection is done without prior radiotherapy. Allegedly, avoidance of radiation retinopathy and papillopathy are the main advantages of using endoresection without prior radiotherapy.