[Diagnostic potential and value of conventional radiography, x-ray tomography and high-resolution computed tomography in complex orbital trauma].

Hypocycloidal polytomography and High Resolution CT (HR-CT) were used in 101 severely injured patients having complex orbital and periorbital trauma. The diagnostic value of both methods was analysed retrospectively. Biplane HR-CT was superior to biplane polytomography especially in diagnosing complex fractures and orbital soft tissue lesions. Scanned coronal or semicoronal projection was performed in 70 out of 101 cases and found mandatory for evaluation and diagnosing of undisplaced floor fractures. Recognition of traumatic orbital soft tissue lesions was possible by CT and found extremely helpful in diagnosing secondary and tertiary fractures, primarily not depicted on polytomograms, but detected retrospectively in some cases. Many of these lesions correlated well with various posttraumatic ophthalmological impairments.