Desmoplastic spindle-cell melanoma of the eyelid with orbital invasion.

Objective: To describe the clinicopathologic features of a patient with a spindle-cell melanoma of the eyelid that exhibited orbital invasion.

Methods: Case report.

Results: A slowly enlarging mass developed in the eyelid of a 50-year-old woman. Excision of the mass showed desmoplastic spindle-cell melanoma. The tumor recurred in the orbit, and an exenteration was performed. A second recurrence 7 months later was treated with radiation therapy.

Conclusions: There is a continuum of spindle-cell to desmoplastic melanoma. The prognosis of patients with orbital invasion of melanoma is poor, and adjuvant treatment including radiation and chemotherapy has little benefit.