Screening Criteria for Detecting Severe Ocular Injuries in the Setting of Orbital Fractures.

PURPOSE: Define incidence of severe ocular trauma in orbital fracture patients and determine if ocular signs and symptoms are useful predictors of severe ocular injuries. METHODS: Retrospective chart review was performed on all patients with orbital fractures between April 1, 2013, and December 31, 2014. Patients were included if they had radiographic evidence of acute fracture of at least one orbital wall and were evaluated by the Ophthalmology service. Demographics, concurrent injury data, and symptoms and signs of ocular trauma were collected. Concurrent ocular injuries were grouped by severity. Predictive signs or symptoms for severe ocular trauma were identified by stepwise logistic regression analysis. The threshold point for predictive signs and symptoms was detected by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC). RESULTS: Five-hundred-twelve patients were included. The most common mechanisms of injury were assault (39%), fall (25%), and motor vehicle accident (21%). The incidence of any concurrent ocular trauma was 75% (383/512), with 14% (70/512) being severe. Four signs and symptoms were predictors of severity: blurred vision (P < 0.0001), pain with eye movements (P < 0.0001), visual acuity worse than 20/40 in the ipsilateral eye (P < 0.001), and restricted motility (P < 0.001). The presence of 2 or more of these signs or symptoms was predictive of severe ocular trauma with high sensitivity (91%) and specificity (86%). CONCLUSIONS: In cooperative patients with acute orbital wall fractures, the presence of 2 or more signs or symptoms is predictive of severe ocular trauma and necessitates the need for urgent ophthalmic consultation.Severe ocular injury associated with orbital wall fracture is more likely in patients with 2 or more ophthalmic signs or symptoms.

Orbital apex syndrome from bacterial sinusitis without orbital cellulitis.

PURPOSE: To describe a case of orbital apex syndrome as a result of isolated bacterial sinusitis. OBSERVATIONS: A 63-year-old woman presented with an orbital apex syndrome from isolated bacterial sinusitis with rapidly declining visual acuity to no light perception. We compared our case with 6 similar cases of severe vision loss from isolated bacterial sinusitis. In contrast to previously published cases, our patient presented with good vision yet deteriorated to no light perception despite appropriate treatment. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPORTANCE: Orbital apex syndrome can present as a constellation of cranial neuropathies including optic neuropathy from conditions affecting the orbital apex. Although vision loss remained permanent, prompt initiation of broad-spectrum antibiotics and antifungals and surgical intervention prevented further extension of infection into intracranial structures.

Eyelid and ocular surface carcinoma: diagnosis and management.

Eyelid cancers account for 5% to 10% of all cutaneous malignancies. The incidence of eyelid cancer is approximately 15 cases per 100,000 individuals per year. Basal cell carcinoma is by far the most common cutaneous malignancy in the periocular area; other cutaneous malignancies that occur in this area include, in decreasing order of frequency, squamous cell carcinoma, sebaceous carcinoma, melanoma, and Merkel cell carcinoma. The most common treatment for eyelid carcinomas is surgical resection with frozen section examination for margin control, but exenteration may be needed when there is orbital invasion. Adjuvant radiotherapy may be needed in patients at high risk for local recurrence; sentinel lymph node biopsy may be considered in patients at high risk for lymph node metastasis. Primary or residual in situ disease of the conjunctiva can be treated with topical chemotherapy, such as mitomycin C, 5-fluorouracil, or interferon alpha-2 b. For patients with metastatic or locally advanced basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma not amenable to surgical excision or radiotherapy, targeted therapy against the hedgehog pathway (for basal cell carcinoma) or epidermal growth factor receptor (for squamous cell carcinoma) has been shown to be effective in preventing disease progression. Patients with eyelid and ocular surface malignancies need to be monitored with careful clinical examination for at least 5years after surgical treatment, and additional investigations may be warranted in some cases.

Number of excisions required to obtain clear surgical margins and prognostic value of AJCC T category for patients with eyelid melanoma.

AIMS: To determine the number of excisions needed to achieve clear margins and the prognostic value of the 7th edition of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) classification for eyelid melanoma. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of consecutive patients treated for eyelid melanoma from January 2006 through May 2013 by the senior author at a tertiary care cancer centre. RESULTS: Of the 64 patients (25 men and 39 women), clear surgical margins were achieved with a single excision in 38 patients (62%), 2 excisions in 21 patients (34%), and 3 excisions in 2 patients (3%). Need for repeat excision was not correlated with the size of the surgical margin (p=0.14) or AJCC TNM classification (p=0.15). Nodal disease at presentation was significantly associated with T category greater than T2b (p=0.0026) and shorter time to disease progression (p=0.007). Patients followed for a minimum of 1 year with T category greater than T2b had a significantly higher risk of nodal or distant metastasis (p=0.0061). CONCLUSIONS: More than a third of patients with eyelid melanoma required more than 1 excision to achieve clear margins, supporting delayed reconstruction for eyelid melanoma. Nodal metastasis at presentation was significantly correlated with AJCC T category and time to progression.