[Peroperative spinal cord echography]

Real time intraoperative ultrasonography is used since 1982 in spinal surgery. It gives numerous information, so that the neurosurgeon may adapt his technique to the obtained views. The authors describe this technique and give their experience based on 25 preliminary cases and on the literature. The normal echoanatomy of the spinal cord and the spinal canal is described as well as the echostructure of the different components observed in all cases. They give afterwards the different aspects of intramedullary tumours, extramedullary lesions (intra or extradurally), spinal traumas and syringomyelia.