Electro-oculographic changes after local excision of uveal melanoma

Standard electro-oculography was performed in 10 patients with malignant unilateral uveal melanoma All eyes were treated by means of surgical local excision. After a mean +/- standard deviation follow-up of 10.5 +/- 5.5 months (range, 6 to 20 months) in the five patients with choroidal melanoma, the electro-oculographic recordings, which had appeared reduced or flat before the surgery, increased significantly just after the local excision. Thereafter the amplitudes of the electro-oculographic light peaks were reduced in all cases up to extinction, possibly because of a retinal detachment. On the contrary, the electro-oculographic value in the five melanomas localized at the iris and ciliary body, normal before the surgery, showed a marked and persistent increase after surgery, probably related to an 'electric hole' in the globe.