Pediatric spinal sonography. Part II: Malformations and mass lesions.

The most important spinal disorders in childhood are malformations and mass lesions. The sonographic appearance of the various kinds of dysraphism and their differentiation, of malformations at the cranio-cervical junction, and of mass lesions is demonstrated and illustrated. Based on our preliminary experience, spinal sonography appears to be useful as the first imaging device for the differentiation of complex malformations and as a screening method for occult dysraphism. In mass lesions spinal sonography is useful to diagnose and follow-up disease, with additional imaging procedures currently needed for confirmation of diagnosis.