CT diagnosis of retinoblastoma with histopathologic correlations

Abstract

The authors correlated the radiologic and histopathologic characteristics of 108 retinoblastomas in 98 patients. Calcifications were demonstrable bu CT scans in 92.6% of the cases, whereas only 82% wer evident upon routine histologic study. Cases of severe invasion of the optic nerve beyond the lamina cribrosa and up to the surgical margin of the nerve were detected by CT scans. Lesser degrees of invasion could not be determined by the same method. Orbital extension was also demonstrable, whereas invasion limited to the sclera was rarely accessible to CT diagnosis. Choroidal invasion was not detectable. Computerized tomography detected enlargement of the ipsilateral lacrimal gland in 17.5% of patients. This phenomenon correlates with invasion of the choroid and the optic nerve.