[Computer tomography in primary orbital tumors]

The aim of this study is to observe the anatomical changes that occur in the tumoral pathology of the orbit, as well as to underline the importance of computed tomographic examination in the investigation of the orbital tumoral pathology.

This study has been conducted in the Military Hospital of Timisoara by a team made of anatomists, radiologists and ophthalmologists. A number of 215 patients were examined over a period of six years, between 1998-2002. The computed tomography examinations were made with Picker IQ Premier equipment, using contiguous native axial sections of 2 to 5 mm thick, after intravenous injection of non-ionic contrast-enhancing substance for vascular identification and iodophilic quantification specific to each structure.

From the 215 patients that had undergone a CT examination of the orbits, 41 cases had positive orbital tumoral pathology. The primary tumors of the optic nerve had the highest incidence being present in 12 cases, of which 9 with glioma and 3 with meningioma. The second most frequent were the vascular tumors revealed in 11 cases.

Due to its diagnosis performances CT has to be considered as a routine investigation method, recommended as a method of choice in orbital tumoral pathology.