Abstract
Through the advances of sonographic devices and techniques, portable sonography has been a primary choice of modality in neonatal intensive care units until now. In particular, neurosonography has been an essential tool for diagnostic application of brain and spinal diseases in the neonate. This chapter comprises scanning techniques, normal anatomy, normal variants and pitfalls of cranial sonography, and common diseases of the brain and the spine that can be achieved for sonographic diagnosis. The sonographic scan can be performed through anterior, posterior, and mastoid fontanelles, as necessary. For accuracy and consistency of cranial sonography, it suggests basic reference planes with the corresponding drawings and explains various variants and pitfalls such as echogenic pseudolesions, prominent calcar avis, periventricular echogenic halos in brain parenchyma, and various patterns of choroid plexus within the ventricle. Cranial sonography can detect germinal matrix hemorrhage, other intracranial hemorrhage, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy as serious causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality according to their sonographic findings. For severity and prognosis of hemorrhage and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, the sonographic findings are also classified and graded. Cranial sonography in the intracranial infection of the neonate is useful in assessing the degree and type of hydrocephalus and detecting other related abnormalities. In spite of the superiority of MRI, sonography is usually good as a screening tool in most malformations. This chapter reviews sonographic findings of congenital malformations according to disorders of histogenesis, closure of the neural tube, diverticulation, neuronal proliferation, migration, sulcation, and destruction. Spinal sonography has become an important tool in evaluating spinal dysraphism and other spine-related disorders in the infant with unossified posterior elements of the spine as an acoustic window. Lastly, the representative cases related with neurosonography will be illustrated.
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Lee, Y.S. (2014). Neurosonography. In: Kim, IO. (eds) Radiology Illustrated: Pediatric Radiology. Radiology Illustrated. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35573-8_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35573-8_6
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