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Endo-neuro-sonography: first clinical series (52 cases)
1Department of Neurosurgery, University of Greifswald, Sauerbruchstrasse 1, 17487 Greifswald, Germany. Resch@uni-greifswald.de
Objective:
A sono catheter for transendoscopic imaging was applied in neurosurgery for the first time in 52 patients with a broad variety of lesions.
Methods:
A transendoscopic sono catheter (Aloka Deutschland GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany) with a diameter of 1.9 mm (6F) was used and introduced into the working canal of an endoscope. The image produced by the probe is a 360 degrees scan ("brain radar") displayed on a monitor, on which some parameters can be varied to get the best view of the different anatomical structures.
Results:
In 39 patients intraoperative imaging was the main reason for investigation and in 13 patients neuronavigation was the focus of interest. In 18 cases of tumor resection control targeting a visualized remnant was necessary. There are limitations and artifacts, which should reveal themselves in laboratory and clinical experience.
Conclusion:
In this small series, endo-neuro-sonography proved to make neuroendoscopy safer and easier by online and real-time imaging with high resolution.