Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2005, 206(4)

Case Report

Natural Course of Hematoma in Lateral Rectus Muscle Followed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

HIDEYUKI ONAMI, HIROSHI KUNIKATA, MASAYOSHI HOJO,¹ YOICHI NAKAGAWA² and MAKOTO TAMAI³

Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, ¹Department of Ophthalmology, Kesennuma County Hospital, Kesennuma, ²Department of Ophthalmology, Ishinomaki Red Cross Hospital, Ishinomaki, and ³Tohoku University Biomedical Engineering Research Organization, Sendai, Japan

We report a patient with a spontaneous intramuscular hematoma in the lateral rectus muscle of the eye that resolved without medication with maintenance of good vision. A 40-year-old woman presented with ocular pain and exophthalmos in her right eye. She had no history of trauma or surgery. Exophthalmos and limitation of abduction and supraduction of her right eye were present at the initial examination. Magnetic resonance (MR) images showed an intramuscular hematoma in the right lateral rectus muscle. Her other ocular findings were within normal limits. Five months later without any treatments, the MR images were within normal limits, and her ocular signs and symptoms were completely resolved. Careful observations including MR imaging is sufficient for patients with a spontaneous intramuscular hemorrhage in the extraocular muscle, and the visual prognosis is good.

keywords —— lateral rectus muscle; spontaneous orbital hemorrhage; intramuscular hematoma; exophthalmos; magnetic resonance imaging

© 2005 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Correspondence: Hiroshi Kunikata, M.D., Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryomachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8574, Japan.

e-mail: kunikata@oph.med.tohoku.ac.jp