Purpose: To examine retrospectively the diagnostic and differential diagnostic value of color Doppler imaging (CDI) in cases of suspected intraocular and orbital tumors.
Patients and methods: Color Doppler examination (using Acuson 128, Philips-ATL UM-9, HDI 3000, 5000, Siemens Elegra, GE Logiq9) was performed in a total of 194 patients (177 intraocular, 17 orbital tumors). The results were compared to the clinical findings (routine examination, conventional ultrasound examination) and the results of angiography (FLAG, ICG). Furthermore, in 73 cases histopathology records were obtained for comparison.
Results: Signs of blood flow could be detected in 137 cases (71%); the Doppler spectrum was low resistance in the large majority (130) of these cases. In cases where histopathology records were available, 60 of the 73 (82%) showed good concordance between the CDI diagnosis and the pathological results. CDI gave false positive results in 3, and false negative findings in 10 cases; the latter occurred mainly in small iris or ciliary body tumors.
Conclusions: Using CDI, blood flow is demonstrable in the majority of intraocular and orbital tumors, especially if the tumor diameter is larger than 3 mm. CDI flow detection, however, is less reliable for iris or ciliary body tumors.