[Late sequelae of severe injuries to the viscerocranium: clinical, radiographic and CT findings].
After 1 to 7 years the late results of the surgical treatment of 21 patients with partly severe viscerocranial fractures have been evaluated by means of clinical as well as radiographic and CT examinations (with special thin sections and reconstructions). In demonstrating fractures and hemorrhages or mucosal swelling in the sinuses CT was found to be superior--except for fractures of the floor of the orbita and the nasal bone. Clinical dysfunctions and disorders included among others impaired eye motility (5), optic nerve lesions (2), bone prominences (14; predominantly at the orbital margins, in one case resulting in severe deformity of the face), dental and functional masticatory disorders (10), sinus problems and headache (11). The number of fractures that could be demonstrated by radiography and CT was reduced from 336 to 186, and that of fragment dislocations even to less than a quarter of the original figure. Apart from mucosal swelling and 2 hemorrhages, the sinuses--although in some cases severely injured--were well pneumatized again.