Irradiation of malignant eyelid melanoma with iodine 125 plaque

We used contact irradiation with iodine 125 seeds to treat a large, exulcerative, nodular, amelanotic malignant eyelid melanoma with metastasis to the regional lymph nodes in an 80-year-old man. The procedure was similar to iodine 125 plaque irradiation of malignant choroidal melanoma; special equipment, however, was needed to protect the eye from radiation exposure. The response of the malignant eyelid melanoma to iodine 125 plaque irradiation was similar to that of malignant melanomas of the choroid. No complications were observed in a follow-up period of 15 months.