Metastasis to the extraocular muscles: a case report, literature review and pooled data analysis

Abstract Metastasis to the extraocular muscles (EOM) is rare. The existing literature comprises only of isolated case reports therefore a summative description of these lesions is lacking. This study presents a case of bilateral rectus muscle metastasis from malignant melanoma. Furthermore a literature review and pooled data analysis is undertaken with 43 articles encompassing 77 patients and 101 eyes. Mean age was 53 years, 54% were male, 66% had unilateral involvement and 34% had bilateral involvement. The primary malignancies were melanoma ( n = 17, 22%), breast ( n = 15, 15%) and carcinoid ( n = 11, 14%). A single muscle was involved in 56 eyes (67%) and multiple muscles in 27 eyes (33%). Lateral rectus was most commonly affected ( n = 44, 53%). Presenting symptoms included restricted eye movements ( n = 48, 62%), proptosis ( n = 45, 58%), diplopia ( n = 27, 35%) and pain ( n = 18, 23%). Scattered case reports have previously made it difficult to characterise this phenomenon thus a pooled data analysis is presented.