Trends in the Clinical Presentation of Uveal Melanoma During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background and Objective: The objective was to evaluate factors associated with clinical presentation of uveal melanoma (UM) during the initial two years of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Patients and Methods: This was a multi-site, retrospective cohort study of patients treated for uveal melanoma during the first (early) and second (late) year of the pandemic compared with the year prior (control). Results: A total of 48, 67, and 75 patients were in the control, early, and late cohorts, respectively. The early cohort had a higher frequency of large tumors (control: 29.2%, early: 40.3%, late: 29.3%; P < 0.001) at presentation. Both the early and late cohorts had higher rates of enucleation (control: 8.33%, early: 20.9%, late: 18.67%; P ≤ 0.0338) compared to the control cohort. Conclusions: While there was an increase in large tumors along with a rise in enucleation during the first year of the pandemic, enucleation rates remained elevated even while tumor sizes normalized. [ Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina 2024;55:XX–XX.]