Small part ultrasound in childhood and adolescence

Eur J Radiol. 2014 Sep;83(9):1549-59. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2014.04.028. Epub 2014 May 5.

Abstract

Small-part sonography refers to the display of small, near-surface structures using high-frequency linear array transducers. Traditional applications for small part ultrasound imaging include visualization and differential diagnostic evaluation in unclear superficial bodily structures with solid, liquid and mixed texture, as well as similar structures in nearly superficial organs such as the thyroid glands and the testes. Furthermore indications in the head and neck regions are the assessment of the outer CSF spaces in infants, the sonography of the orbit, the sonography of the walls of the large neck vessels, the visualization of superficially situated lymph nodes and neoplasms. Clinical evidence concludes that sonography, having of all imaging modalities the highest spatial resolution in the millimeter- and micrometer range (100-1000μm), can be considered the best suited technique for examining superficial pathological formations and near-surface organs. In addition, it delivers important information about characteristic, often pathognomonic tissue architecture in pathological processes.

Keywords: Children; Small part; Sonography.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Carotid Intima-Media Thickness*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Eye / diagnostic imaging
  • Eye Diseases / diagnostic imaging*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Lymph Nodes / diagnostic imaging
  • Lymphatic Diseases / diagnostic imaging*
  • Male
  • Spinal Cord / diagnostic imaging*
  • Testicular Diseases / diagnostic imaging
  • Testis / diagnostic imaging
  • Thyroid Diseases / diagnostic imaging*
  • Thyroid Gland / diagnostic imaging