[Sonographic diagnosis of the central nervous system in the neonate and infant--pathomorphology, indications and value].

Standardized cerebral sonography permits early diagnosis of intracranial abnormalities and follow-up of high-risk neonates and infants during the first year of life. In the last three years 782 neonates and infants were examined using a real-time sector scanners (3,5--7,5 MHz). Echogenicity of parenchymal structures as well as the ventricular system, the subarachnoid space and the choroid plexus were routinely investigated. Based on morphological criteria a stage classification of brain haemorrhage into five degrees of severity has been developed. The sonographic pattern of normal anatomy, various types of hydrocephalus, intracranial infectious pathology, brain tumor and meningomyelocele is described. Sonographic monitoring facilitates the decision on conservative or neurosurgical treatment of hydrocephalus.