Purpose: To report a patient with bilateral metastatic cutaneous melanoma to the retina and vitreous presenting as a right panuveitis.
Methods: A 63-year-old woman with metastatic malignant cutaneous melanoma treated with ipilimumab and prolonged high-dose steroids presented with a right panuveitis and right blurred vision. Dilated fundus examination revealed bilateral, off-white, large, globular vitreous opacities and bilateral retinal lesions. These retinal lesions had a pale yellow appearance with a cuff of haemorrhage. The unpigmented appearance of the vitreous opacities raised the suspicion of candida endophthalmitis.
Results: Bilateral, sequential pars plana vitrectomy with pathomorphologic examination of the vitreous specimen demonstrated metastatic melanoma. Ocular radiotherapy followed by cataract surgery resulted in the regression of retinal lesions in both eyes and no recurrence of the vitreous metastases.
Conclusion: The development of vitreous and retinal metastases despite a systemic response to ipilimumab identifies the challenge of immunotherapy in an immune privileged site. Treatment is challenging, and outcomes are variable. A local approach of bilateral pars plana vitrectomy, external beam radiotherapy, and subsequent bilateral cataract surgery provided an excellent visual result with no recurrence at 12 months.