epidemiology of orbital and preseptal cellulitis over a 10-year period at labbafinejed medical center, tehran, iran and a review of literature

purpose: to evaluate the epidemiology of orbital and preseptal cellulitis in patients admitted to labbafinejed medical center from 1997 to 2007. methods: hospital records of patients were reviewed. personal and clinical characteristics of the patients together with results of treatment and complications of the disease were evaluated. results: during the study period, 93 patients including 54 cases of preseptal cellulits were admitted. male to female ratio was 2 for orbital cellulitis and 1 for preseptal cellulitis. mean age was 27.4±23.9 years (range, 6 months to 98 years) in patients with orbital cellulitis and 19.1±23.3 years (range, 1 month to 82 years) in patients with preseptal cellulitis. most of the cases (97.8%) were unilateral. mean time from onset to referral was 4 days. mean duration of hospitalization was 6 days for orbital cellulitis and 4.5 days for preseptal cellulitis. most cases occurred during spring. the most common underlying disease was sinusitis which was present in 53.8% of cases of orbital sinusitis and 24.1% of cases of preseptal cellulitis with the ethmoid sinus being the most common involved sinus. an overage of 2 antibiotics were used for treatment. surgical intervention was required in 48.7% of orbital and 14.8% of preseptal cellulitis cases. extraocular muscle palsy occurred in one case as the only complication leading to surgical management. conclusion: orbital and preseptal cellulitis are seen most frequently in young patients in spring and sinusitis is the most common underlying disease. timely treatment of sinusitis may prevent orbital and preseptal cellulitis.