Visualisation of intracranial space-occupying lesions by means of transcranial duplex sonography: report on two cases

Abstract

Objective: A new method for the visualisation of intracranial lesions by means of transcranial duplex sonography is illustrated by two cases.

Methods: The following methods were used to obtain images of a frontal glioblastoma and a meningioma: transcranial duplex sonography (2 MHz transducer), cerebral computed tomography (cCT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Results: Comparable to cerebral angiography, transcranial duplex sonography revealed displacement of the cerebral blood vessels and thus the presence of space-occupying lesions.

Conclusions: Transcranial duplex sonography is a non-invasive method for the visualisation of the circle of Willis and its branches and therefore also an indirect indicator of space-occupying lesions within the cranial cavity. As a bedside investigation, it can be used for emergency or routine diagnostic procedures, and repeated as often as necessary for routine follow-up in everyday neurosurgical practice.