Correlative study of the computed tomographic, ultrasonographic, and pathological characteristics of cavernous versus capillary hemangiomas of the orbit.

Pathologic and ultrasonographic features of cavernous and capillary hemangiomas were correlated with the computed tomographic (CT) characteristics of these two tumors to show that these hemangiomas can be differentiated by their contrast enhancement characteristics. Specifically, all five cases of adult cavernous hemangiomas were enhanced proportionately less than extraocular muscles, whereas capillary hemangiomas were enhanced proportionately more than extraocular muscles. The capillary hemangioma that demonstrated the lowest relative enhancement was in an older child, it may have represented a more mature form of a capillary hemangioma. We correlated these CT findings with the ultrasonographic and pathologic features to explain the differences in these CT characteristics.