Cavernous hemangioma of the bony orbit.

Purpose: To study the clinical features, diagnosis and management of intraosseous cavernous hemangioma of the orbit.

Methods: Five cases of intraosseous cavernous hemangioma seen in our hospital from Jan 1, 1986 to Dec 31, 2000 were reviewed.

Results: Among all five cases, two were male and three were female. The mean age was 47.6 years old, ranging from 39.0 to 55.0 years. The left orbit was affected in 4 cases and the right one in 1 case. The bony involvement occurred in frontal bone (two cases), zygomatic bone (two cases) and sphenoid bone (one case). A painless, slowly enlarging hard bony mass fixed to the bone with no pulsations was the main clinical sign. The x-ray and CT appearance of intraosseous cavernous hemangioma of the orbit were characteristic and usually diagnostic. The differential diagnosis of it included fibrous dysplasia, eosinophilic granuloma, multiple myeloma and metastatic carcinoma. Treatment is local removal of the bone containing the tumor.

Conclusions: Intraosseous cavernous hemangioma is a rare tumor of the orbit and usually has good surgical result.