Clinicopathological Profile of Conjunctival Melanoma at a Referral Ophthalmology Center in Peru

To describe the clinicopathological profile of conjunctival melanoma in a referral ophthalmology center in Peru.

Observational, descriptive, and retrospective study including 29 patients with conjunctival melanoma confirmed by histopathological examination, attended between 2012 and 2023 at the Instituto Nacional de Oftalmología "Dr. Francisco Contreras Campos", Lima, Peru. The main variable was the clinicopathological profile, which comprised clinical characteristics (clinical course, topography, symptoms, and signs) and pathological characteristics (macroscopic and microscopic).

The mean age of patients was 60.4 ± 17.5 years, and 69% were female. Right eye involvement was observed in 58.6% of cases, and in 93.1% the melanoma was located in the bulbar conjunctiva. In 67.9%, the disease extended to several quadrants of the ocular surface; moreover, 87% did not show additional foci of pigmented lesions. Conjunctival melanoma presented with an irregular shape in 62.1% of cases, firm consistency in 58.6%, was melanotic in 100%, and was of medium size in 41.7%. In addition, the lesion originated from primary acquired melanosis (PAM) in 66.7% of cases and from a nevus in 27.8%.

The clinicopathological profile revealed predominant involvement of the right eye, bulbar conjunctiva, multiple quadrants and pigmented medium-sized lesions.