Clinical applications of color Doppler imaging in the management of orbital lesions.

Purpose: To present the clinical applications of color Doppler imaging (CDI) as an adjunctive study in the diagnosis and treatment of orbital lesions.
Methods: Retrospective noncomparative case series. Medical records of 17 patients with orbital lesions who underwent orbital CDI were reviewed, and their orbital CDI results, diagnosis, and treatment were studied. The main outcome measures were detection of abnormal orbital vascular flow and presence or absence of blood flow within orbital lesions by CDI.
Results: Absence of intralesional flow was associated with an orbital lesion considered benign. Tumors in which flow was present were more frequently malignant or had malignant potential. Reversal of flow in the superior ophthalmic vein was observed in patients with carotid-cavernous fistula and orbital varix.
Conclusions: CDI is a useful adjunctive imaging study for evaluating the vascularity of orbital tumors. The absence or presence of intratumoral blood flow as demonstrated by CDI can help determine the nature of the orbital mass and can assist with surgical planning.