Purpose: To assess the role of spectral and color Doppler ultrasonography in the positive and differential diagnosis of ocular and orbital tumoral masses.
Material and methods: Retrospective clinical study of 153 patients with 163 ocular or / and orbital masses who were examined by spectral and color Doppler ultrasonography in the Clinic of Radiology, Cluj County Emergency Hospital, between 1997 and 2004. In all patients, the arterial impedance indices were measured by pulsed Doppler examination. The color Doppler characterization of the mass consisted in the description of intratumoral vascularity: presence, vessel number and appearance and peculiar aspects. The final diagnosis was established by histopathology in 123 tumors. In 40 tumors, the diagnosis was established by correlating the clinical findings with the results of other imaging modalities.
Results: The study identifies and describes peculiar ultrasonographic aspects of the vascularity in various intraocular and orbital tumors. It describes and illustrates the Doppler ultrasonographic appearance of choroidal melanoma, retinoblastoma, eyeball metastases, hemangioma, lymphangioma, optic nerve sheath glioma, inflammatory pseudotumors and tumors invading the orbit.
Conclusions: The association of vascular information to the two-dimensional ultrasonographic image allows for an improved characterization of ocular and orbital tumoral masses.