[High resolution small parts sonography (7.5 MHz) of the head and neck region]

Frequently, sonography of the head and neck serves only for assessment of the thyroid and arteriosclerotic lesions of the extracranial vessels. This article gives a review of ultrasound of the remaining cervical structures, particularly spaceoccupying lesions. The differentiation between malignant and benign lymphadenopathy or between intraglandular and extraglandular abnormalities of the salivary glands is possible with an accuracy between 90 and 95 %. Limitations of the method lie in the difficult access to the skull basis as well as the retropharyngeal and retrotracheal space.