Opportunities of modern instrumental diagnostic methods for metastatic lesions visualization in patients with uveal melanoma
Aims; To determine the opportunities of modern instrumental diagnostic methods for metastatic foci visualization in patients with uveal melanoma (UM). Materials and methods: ninety nine patients with UM were examined (28 males, 71 females) with average age 57,8±12,3 years (from 24 till 78 y.o.), 46 of them - before treatment start and 53 were examined between the 3rd and 240th month after UM diagnosis (median 26,7±9,0 months). All patients had ultrasound in B-regimen or computed tomography (CT) of abdominal cavity, chest X-ray or CT, standard whole-body FDG-PET/CT with inclusion of orbital region. Results: Abdominal ultrasound revealed liver metastases with the size ranging from 10 to 72 mm in 2 cases, with solitary lesion in one of them. Abdominal CT showed liver metastases in 3 cases among 13 examined patients with the size ranging from 5 to 70 mm. The size of solitary metastases varies between 12 and 26 mm. Minimal size of multiple metastatic lesions revealed via CT or FDG-PET/CT was 5-6 mm. Conclusion: in comparison with ultrasound or CT, FDG-PET/CT has more diagnostic capabilities in identifying solitary liver metastases, which allows them to be diagnosed in time, and, if necessary, to perform radical surgical treatment, and thus maintain quality of life and improve the survival rates of such patients.