Partial resolution of acute ascending motor polyneuropathy after enucleation of an eye with metastatic melanoma

Malignant melanoma is an immunological tumour, and the glycoproteins on the surface of melanoma cells share immunogenic similarity with cells in the central and peripheral nervous system. Several clinical signs have been suggested to result from this similarity including vitiligo, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH), and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.1,2 We describe a patient with metastatic melanoma in the eye, who developed uveitis associated with ascending motor neuropathy. Enucleation of her blind painful eye resulted in marked improvement in her neurological abnormalities. A 21 year old woman with a history of stage III cutaneous melanoma presented with anterior uveitis in her left eye. Visual acuity, intraocular pressure, and posterior pole examinations were within normal limits. Right eye examination was unremarkable. A diagnostic anterior …