Diagnostic Imaging of Fetal and Pediatric Orbital Abnormalities

OBJECTIVE: The orbit contains structures from which a wide spectrum of disease can arise. This article focuses on orbital anatomy and a simple compartmental approach to evaluating the orbit on diagnostic imaging. The characteristic findings of key fetal structural diseases and a wide spectrum of pediatric orbital disorders, including inflammatory disorders and developmental lesions, and the differential diagnosis of benign versus malignant masses will be discussed. CONCLUSION: Orbital abnormalities in fetuses may be recognized using ultrasound and MRI. Anophthalmia, hypertelorism, and hypotelorism either may be part of a genetic syndrome or may be related to a developmental abnormality of the fetal skull. In the pediatric population, cross-sectional imaging with CT and MRI offers a means to assess which compartments of the orbit are affected. Aggressive masses have characteristic features and must be evaluated for intracranial extension.