Visualisation of intracranial space-occupying lesions by means of transcranial duplex sonography: report on two cases.

OBJECTIVE

A new method for the visualisation of intracranial lesions by means of transcranial duplex sonography is illustrated by two cases.

METHODS

The following methods were used to obtain images of a frontal glioblastoma and a meningioma: transcranial duplex sonography (2 MHz transducer), cerebral computed tomography (cCT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

RESULTS

Comparable to cerebral angiography, transcranial duplex sonography revealed displacement of the cerebral blood vessels and thus the presence of space-occupying lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

Transcranial duplex sonography is a non-invasive method for the visualisation of the circle of Willis and its branches and therefore also an indirect indicator of space-occupying lesions within the cranial cavity. As a bedside investigation, it can be used for emergency or routine diagnostic procedures, and repeated as often as necessary for routine follow-up in everyday neurosurgical practice.