Growing fracture of the orbital roof. A case report

We report a case of growing fracture of the orbital roof in a 5-year-old ch ild. The presenting sign was a pulsatile orbital mass. This child had a his tory of a minor head injury with orbital impact 2 years ago. Cerebral CT sc an revealed a diastatic fracture of the right orbital roof. On MRI a leptom eningeal cyst extending in the orbital cavity was shown. Frontal craniotomy with direct repair of the dural and bone defects was performed. The outcom e was excellent. In the literature the exact pathophysiology of the growing fractures is still debated but a dural laceration along the fracture line is noted in all the cases. They are mostly located in the cranial convexity , and rarely affect the skull base. Only 5 similar cases were found in the relevant literature. Growing fracture of the orbital roof should be suspected if ocular symptoms appears in childs who have sustained a head injury several months or years ago.