Thermography in clinical ophthalmic oncology

The aim of this study was to present our own experience with the use of thermography as a complementary method for the initial diagnosis and differentiation of intraocular tumors, as well as for the evaluation of the efficacy of treatment of intraocular melanomas.

Methods:

The study group comprised 37 patients with intraocular tumors, including 9 with uveal melanoma, 8 with uveal melanoma after I¹²⁵ brachytherapy, 12 with a focal metastasis to the uvea, and 8 with retinal capillary hemangioblastoma. A FLIR T640 camera was used to capture images in the central point of the cornea, eye area, and orbital cavity area.

Results:

Eyes with uveal melanoma had higher temperature compared with the fellow normal eye of the patient in the range of all measured parameters in the regions of interest. In the group of patients with melanoma after unsuccessful brachytherapy, higher temperature was observed at the central point of the cornea. In patients with tumor regression, all measured parameters were lower in the affected eye. We observed lower temperatures in the range of all tested parameters and areas in eyes with choroidal metastases. Eyes with diagnosed intraocular hemangioblastoma were characterized by higher parameters for the regions of interest versus eyes without this pathology.

Conclusions:

A thermographic examination of the eye can be used as an additional first-line diagnostic tool for the differentiation of intraocular tumors. Thermography can be a helpful tool in monitoring the treatment outcome in patients with intraocular melanoma.

Keywords:
Thermography; Uveal neoplasm; Melanoma; Neoplasm metastasis; Eye neoplasm/secondary; Hemangioblastoma

Group	Description	n	Age (years)		Female		Male
Group	Description	n	Mean	SD	n	%	n	%
1	Melanoma without treatment	9	73.89	9.78	2	22.22	7	77.78
2	Melanoma after treatment (relapse)	4	67.50	19.23	2	50.00	2	50.00
3	Melanoma after treatment (regression)	4	57.50	12.07	1	25.00	3	75.00
4	Metastasis	12	67.92	12.77	9	75.00	3	25.00
5	Retinal capillary hemangioblastoma	8	44.50	22.05	5	62.50	3	37.50
Total		37	63.14	18.11	19	51.35	18	48.65

ROI	Variable	Affected		Normal
ROI	Variable	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Central point of the cornea	Mean	33.63	1.07	33.54	1.14
Area of the eye	Median	34.31	0.90	34.27	0.93
Area of the orbital cavity	Median	34.44	0.81	34.37	0.82

Group	ROI	Variable	Affected		Normal
Group	ROI	Variable	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
1. Melanoma without treatment (n=9)	Central point of the cornea	T	34.25^a	0.78	33.75^b	0.89
	Area of the eye	Mean	34.60	0.85	34.38	0.76
		SD	0.84	0.76	0.63	0.21
		Median	34.72^a	0.68	34.27^b	0.83
		Mode	34.72^a	0.92	34.00^b	1.00
	Area of the orbital cavity	Mean	34.49^a	0.64	34.13^b	0.58
		SD	1.12	0.39	1.01	0.15
		Median	34.62^{a x y}	0.70	34.04^b	0.64
		Mode	35.26^a	0.65	34.23^b	1.21
2. Melanoma after treatment (relapse) (n=4)	Central point of the cornea	T	34.13	1.10	33.15	0.97
	Area of the eye	Mean	34.83	0.46	34.25	0.46
		SD	0.85	0.36	0.91	0.39
		Median	34.86	0.68	34.14	0.61
		Mode	34.87	1.58	34.04	1.41
	Area of the orbital cavity	Mean	34.96	0.53	34.52	0.24
		SD	1.04	0.26	1.14	0.17
		Median	35.09^x	0.71	34.61	0.42
		Mode	36.33	0.40	34.98	1.20
3. Melanoma after treatment (regression) (n=4)	Central point of the cornea	T	33.37	1.38	34.71	1.19
	Area of the eye	Mean	34.20	0.98	35.10	1.18
		SD	0.86^a	0.34	0.54^b	0.24
		Median	34.13	1.05	35.09	1.20
		Mode	33.40	1.34	35.22	1.32
	Area of the orbital cavity	Mean	33.70	0.23	34.58	1.38
		SD	1.36	0.39	0.95	0.44
		Median	33.82^z	0.24	34.70	1.36
		Mode	34.27	1.35	35.27	1.66
4. Metastasis (n=12)	Central point of the cornea	T	33.23	1.06	33.37	0.99
	Area of the eye	Mean	34.02	0.89	34.30	0.75
		SD	0.80	0.23	0.83	0.33
		Median	33.99	0.98	34.28	0.81
		Mode	33.73	1.12	34.52	0.87
	Area of the orbital cavity	Mean	34.28^a	0.82	34.51^b	0.76
		SD	1.06	0.21	1.01	0.13
		Median	34.37^{a x y z}	0.93	34.62^b	0.82
		Mode	34.88	1.28	35.33	1.24
5. Retinal capillary hemangioblastoma (n=8)	Central point of the cornea	T	33.40	1.04	33.14	1.44
	Area of the eye	Mean	34.13	0.81	33.99	1.10
		SD	0.80	0.24	0.80	0.33
		Median	34.13	0.94	33.92	1.16
		Mode	34.14	1.08	33.36	1.46
	Area of the orbital cavity	Mean	34.29	0.68	34.08	0.71
		SD	1.08	0.35	1.09	0.39
		Median	34.32^{y z}	0.81	34.10	0.78
		Mode	35.07	1.30	34.94	1.30

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E-mail: abo@cbo.com.br

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[1] Corresponding author: Anna Modrzejewska. E-mail: ania_modrzej@o2.pl