| Objectives: To compare the diagnostic performance of ultrasonography and CBCT against
CT in detecting orbital floor fractures.
Methods: A total of 120 orbits with clinical suspicion of isolated orbital floor fractures
underwent multislice CT scanning with coronal reconstruction; orbital ultrasonography using
a standard machine equipped with a 7- to 10-MHz linear transducer; and CBCT. Patients
with severe head and face injuries were not included. The diagnostic performance of
ultrasonography and CBCT was reported assuming conventional CT as the imaging method
of choice.
Results: According to CT findings, fractures of the floor were present in 39 orbits. The
sensitivity, specificity, positive-predictive value and negative-predictive value of ultrasonography
in detecting orbital floor fractures were 87.2%, 100%, 100% and 94.2%, respectively.
The corresponding values for CBCT were 97.4%, 97.5%, 95.0%, and 98.8%, respectively.
Areas under the receiver operator characteristics curves of orbital floor fracture detection
were 0.94 for ultrasonography and 0.98 for CBCT.
Conclusions: When conventional CT cannot be performed in patients with clinically
suspected orbital floor fracture and no severe or complex head and face injuries, CBCT could
be used in detecting fractures as a reliable surrogate. Because of a lower sensitivity of
ultrasonography, however, its use is limited in this regard. |