Do Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Enucleation for UM Indicate Poor Quality of Care or Financial Obstacles?

To the Editor Rajeshuni et al examined the association of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status with uveal melanoma treatment by performing a retrospective analysis of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries in the US. They reported that treatment consisted of primary enucleation in 27% of non-White individuals compared with 20% of non-Hispanic White individuals and in 27% of individuals in a lower socioeconomic group compared with 14% of those in a higher socioeconomic group. They concluded, “Given the consequences of enucleation, including postoperative vision loss, decreased quality of life, decreased functionality, and increased perceived stigma, efforts should be made to appropriately reduce differences in enucleation rates across populations.”
Source: JAMA Ophthalmology - Category: Opthalmology Source Type: research