Measurement of Orbital Dimensions and Its Gender Related Differences in Various Ages of Pakistani Children

Abstract

Purpose: To measure the orbital dimensions and their gender related differences at various ages in Pakistani children from birth to 12 years of age. Study Design: Cross sectional observational. Place and Duration of Study: Tibri Medical College and Hospital Karachi and National Institute of Child Health, Karachi from June 2022 to February 2023. Methods: Patients who underwent CT Scan head for any reason but with normal orbits were included in the study. The vertical and horizontal measurements were made for anterior, middle and posterior orbit in sagittal and axial views. Results: The mean age of the total sample of 176 children was 6.45±3.40 years. The mean horizontal dimension of the anterior side of the orbit was 28.31 mm for children aged 1-3 years, 30.63 mm for those aged 4-6 years, 32.22 mm for ages 6-9 years, and 32.93 mm for ages 10-12 years. These differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). A significant difference was observed in the mean vertical dimension for the middle and posterior sides across different age groups. There were significant differences in the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the anterior and middle sides of the orbits for children aged 1-3 years (p<0.05). However, for children aged 4-6 years, there were no significant differences between genders in any measured dimension (horizontal, vertical, or depth) (p>0.05). Conclusion: There is a phase of rapid growth from birth to 3 years of age, after which the orbit continues to grow slowly. Gender-related differences were more pronounced during this phase.