Orbital trauma: from anatomy to imaging patterns: A pictorial review

Objective: In assessing the patients with orbital trauma, a basic knowledge of anatomy of this region is necessary to determine the gravity and the extent of traumatic injury. Since the development of high resolution CT, significant progress has been made for the evaluation of orbital trauma, adding more sensitivity to the plain x-ray method. Other imaging methods that can be useful is ultrasonography and MRI. The objective of this article is to review the orbital anatomy correlated with the common CT imaging patterns, and to establish the modality of choice in assessing orbital trauma. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 297 patients with facial trauma who were submitted to spiral CT scanning. The CT images were interpreted using the following protocols: axial, multiplanar reconstruction (MPR), 3D images and association of axial/MPR/3D images. We evaluated the anatomical sites of lesions, dividing them according to the orbital walls: lateral; medial; superior (roof) and inferior (anterior, medial). Results: In our study 35% of patients who suffered facial trauma had ocular or orbital injuries. Most frequent site of orbital fractures was the medial wall. Association of axial/MPR images interpretation increase the sensitivity of CT diagnosis compared with only axial protocol. Conclusions: Facial traumatized patients with clinical suspicion of orbital injuries are usually first evaluated with spiral CT, the best protocol is to obtain thin-section (1-3 mm) axial CT scans and then performing multiplanar reformation (specially coronal reformation is very useful). Knowledge of diverse imaging patterns of potential injuries is essential to make a fast and accurate diagnosis of post-traumatic orbital injury

Votive offerings from Floresti Orthodox monastery in Romania : an ophthalmological lesson from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries CE

Since Antiquity, votive offerings were deposited in temples dedicated to deities in order to fulfil a special request of a supplicant. Later, in Orthodox churches, votive offerings entered in the form of anatomical ex-voto or tamata, metallic effigies that realistically represented the disease-affected portion of the body. In this paper, we show four tamata from eighteenth–nineteenth century identified in the museum of the Orthodox monastery of Floresti (Romania); votive offerings that represent ocular pathologies. Even if the supplicants did not have a medical background and often did not fully understand their diseases, the votive offerings demonstrate their ability to observe pathological changes, at the same time emphasising the importance of their faith in the healing process