Eye Melanoma

To diagnose eye melanoma, your doctor may recommend:

Eye exam. Your doctor will examine the outside of your eye, looking for enlarged blood vessels that can indicate a tumor inside your eye. Then, with the help of instruments, your doctor will look inside your eye.

One method, called binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy, uses lenses and a bright light mounted on your doctor’s forehead — a bit like a miner’s lamp. Another method, called slit-lamp biomicroscopy, uses lenses and a microscope that produces an intense beam of light to illuminate the interior of your eye.
Eye ultrasound. An eye ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves from a hand-held, wandlike apparatus called a transducer to produce images of your eye. The transducer is placed on your closed eyelid or on the front surface of your eye.
Imaging of the blood vessels in and around the tumor (angiogram). During an angiogram of your eye, a colored dye is injected into a vein in your arm. The dye travels to the blood vessels in your eye.
A camera with special filters to detect the dye takes flash pictures every few seconds for several minutes.
Optical coherence tomography. The imaging test creates pictures of portions of the uveal tract and retina.
Removing a sample of suspicious tissue for testing. In some cases, your doctor may recommend a procedure to remove a sample of tissue (biopsy) from your eye.
To remove the sample, a thin needle is inserted into your eye and used to extract suspicious tissue. The tissue is tested in a laboratory to determine whether it contains eye melanoma cells.

An eye biopsy isn’t usually necessary to diagnose eye melanoma.

Determining whether cancer has spread

Your doctor may recommend additional tests and procedures to determine whether the melanoma has spread (metastasized) to other parts of your body. Tests may include:

Blood tests to measure liver function
Chest X-ray
Computerized tomography (CT) scan
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan
Abdominal ultrasound
Positron emission tomography (PET) scan

Symptoms

When to see a doctor

Request an appointment

Complications

Blood clots are a dangerous complication of atrial fibrillation (AFib). Blood clots can lead to stroke.

The risk of stroke from AFib increases as you grow older. Other health conditions also may increase the risk of a stroke due to AFib. These conditions include:

High blood pressure.
Diabetes.
Heart failure.
Some types of heart valve disease.

Blood thinners are commonly prescribed to prevent blood clots and strokes in people with atrial fibrillation.

Prevention

Healthy lifestyle choices can reduce the risk of heart disease and may prevent atrial fibrillation (AFib). Here are some basic heart-healthy tips:

Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Don't smoke or use tobacco.
Eat a diet that's low in salt and saturated fat.
Exercise at least 30 minutes a day on most days of the week unless your health care team says not to.
Get good sleep. Adults should aim for 7 to 9 hours daily.
Maintain a healthy weight.
Reduce and manage stress.

By Freedmans Health Clinic Staff

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