ADVANTAGES
Rapidity
Accessibility
No radiation
Follow up of lesions
Cost effective
Patient friendly
Real time display
Better than CT in subtle lesion of sclera and optic
nerve
DISADVANTAGES
Less resolution than CT and MR
Less magnification
No coronal view
No view of adjacent structures
METHOD
Contact method
5-10 MHz frequency
Horizontal plane preferred
Vertical plane useful in upper anterior orbit and
inf. Rectus examination.
ORBITAL PATHOLOGIES
CHILDREN
Orbital cellulitis
Rhabdomyosarcoma
Dermoid and epidermoid cysts
Capillary hemangioma and lymphangioma
Optic nerve glioma
Vision and life threatening
Causes
Trauma
Extension of infection like sinusitis
superior orbit showing fluid-filled pockets (white arrows)
Posterior scleral thickening on B-ultrasound scan
RHABDOMYOSARCOMA
Commonest malignant orbital tumor of childhood
Around 7 yrs age
Rapidly progressive proptosis
Usually in superio-nasal quadrant
Low reflective irregular mass with good
penetration of sound beam
A cone-shaped rhabdomyosarcoma (arrowheads) is seen in the
orbit behind the eyeball. The optic nerve (black arrow) is partially
encased by the tumor. Note the retinal detachment (white arrow)
in the eye. The patient was a five-year-old child.
DERMOID CYST
most common orbital cystic lesion.
They are lined with keratinizing epidermis and
filled with dermal appendages.
Epidermoid cysts are lined by only epidermis and
are usually filled with keratin.
smooth, painless, oval mass that slowly enlarges.
In 75% of cases, the lesion is located in the
lateral brow adjacent to the zygomatic frontal
suture.
Dermoid. (A) An 18-month-old child with an eyelid mass. (B) High-
resolution ultrasound of the temporal aspect of the upper eyelid
demonstrates an oval anechoic lesion with smooth borders . A blood
vessel (arrow) is demonstrated by this color Doppler examination only
around the lesion, with no evidence of blood vessels entering it.
CAPILLARY HEMANGIOMA
most common vascular tumor of childhood,
manifest primarily in the first year of life.
involutional phase in 75% over 4 to 7 years.
Presentation is usually at birth in the upper eyelid
or superior orbit, which is strawberry in color
(superficial) or bluish (deeper).
They may cause ptosis, strabismus,
anisometropia, and occlusion amblyopia
Less reflective than cavernous type due to small
vascular channels and scant stroma.
Prominent arterial supply gives a positive doppler
phenomenon
Superficial orbital hemagioma. (A) A 2-month-old child with a right upper
mass. (B) High-resolution ultrasound of the temporal aspect of the upper
eyelid demonstrates a smooth lesion with regular borders and multiple
intercalating networks of blood vessels within (arrow).
Deep orbital hemagioma. (A) A 3-month-old child with a right upper nasal
mass. (B) High-resolution color Doppler ultrasound of the nasal aspect of
the orbit demonstrates an intraorbital hypoechoic lesion with blood
vessels within (arrow).
OPTIC NERVE GLIOMA
Benign congenital hamartoma
Usually 4-8 yrs age
Manifest as visual loss and proptosis
Ultrasound shows fusiform or irregular
expansion of optic nerve
Low reflective with poor acoustic transmission
THYROID OPHTHALMOPATHY
Graves' disease is the most common cause of
bilateral proptosis.
Seventy percent of cases are bilateral and
symmetrical.
There is a four-to-one female preponderance.
The disease is characterized by symmetrical
swelling of the extra ocular muscles.
The medial and inferior rectus muscles are most
often involved.
The muscle enlargement characteristically
involves the body of the muscle, sparing the
tendinous attachment to the globe.
On ultrasound muscle have medium to high
reflectivity due to separation of muscle
fibres by edema and inflammatory cells
Severity assessed by medial rectus width by
electronic calliper. Upper normal limit is 4mm
Other features are increased orbital fat and
orbital edema seen as fluid with in tenon’s
capsule and encysted spaces with in orbital fat
Enlarged belly of inferior rectus. Vertical scan
PSEUDOTUMOR
non-specific inflammation of orbital tissues.
unilateral and accounts for 25% of all cases of
unilateral exophthalmos.
Acute onset
Middle aged patients
Includes myositis, dacryoadenitis, periscleritis,
perineuritis and diffuse condition.
Ultrasound shows low reflective lesion
Smooth or irregularly shaped
In diffuse form, orbital fat gives mottled
appearance
Myositis is seen as enlargement of whole of extra
ocular muscle
T sign… edema in tenon’s capsule along optic
nerve sheath
Scleral thickening, T sign, choroidal
effusion
T sign….. arrows
CAVERNOUS HEMANGIOMA
Commonest benign orbital tumor in adults
2
nd
to 5
th
decade of life
Slowly progressive unilateral proptosis
Ultrasound shows transonic mass with
echoes of medium to strong reflectivity
Poor attenuation of sound beam
Negative doppler phenomenon
Calcified phleboliths may be seen
37-year-old man with hemangioma of orbit.
37-year-old man with hemangioma of orbit.
ARTERIOVENOUS FISTULA
Carotid-cavernous fistula and dural-cavernous
arteriovenous malformation
Develop spontaneously or after trauma
Pulsatile proptosis
Diagnosed by color doppler
Blood flow is reversed in superior ophthalmic
vein
Arterialized blood flow in superior ophthalmic vein
ORBITAL LYMPHOMA
Usually non-hodgkin type
Above 60 yrs age
Any part of orbit
Ultrasound shows elongated low reflective
oval mass
METASTASIS
40 % of children with neuroblastoma
Others from Ewing's sarcoma, wilms tumor,
leukemia
In adults metastasis usually arise from primaries
in bronchus, breast, prostate, kidney and GIT
Orbital mets (arrow) displacing optic nerve
NEURILEMMOMA
Optic nerve tumor
Usually in superior orbit
On ultrasound low to medium amplitude echoes
and cystic areas
Neurilemomma
a well-defined heterogenous mass with cystic spaces
OPTIC NERVE SHEATH MENINGIOMA
Optic nerve sheath meningioma arise from
arachnoid villi
Unilateral
Slowly progressive visual impairment
Causes optic nerve compression, proptosis.
Ultrasound shows diffuse/focal broadening
of optic nerve with high reflectivity