[Maculopathy caused by irradiation in patients treated for choroid melanoma]

We are using Cobalt 60 plaques at Curie Institute since 1968 for the treatment of malignant choroidal melanoma. We reviewed a series of 79 patients treated between 1982 and 1984 with a minimal follow up of 5 years. Tumors thickness varies between 2 and 11 mm with a mean thickness of 5.7 mm. All the tumors received at least 70 grays at the apex. 7 patients died from other cause, 7 patients presented metastasis 65 patients are alive and well, 49 of them have kept their eye and 16 have been enucleated. 18 patients have a visual acuity below 20/200 because of severe maculopathy, 29 patients have a visual acuity between 20/200 and 20/25. The most severe functional visual loss was due to maculopathy. It consisted of obliteration of the capillaries, exsudation and cystoid macular oedema. If we compare these results to other authors we see that maculopathy is a frequent problem with cobalt 60. For these reasons, we intend in the future to use iodine 125 plaques and prothontherapie that should give us better functional results.