Intraoperative sonography of intraspinal tumors: initial experience.

Real-time sonography during surgery for intraspinal tumors is capable of demonstrating the extent of the tumor, its relation to the spinal cord, and the internal morphology of both the tumor and the cord. Such information is not obtainable intraoperatively by any other imaging method. It is especially valuable when all or a part of the tumor is anterior to the cord and therefore not visible to the surgeon without exploration and the attendant risk of spinal cord injury. Direct contact with the spinal cord is not necessary for sonographic imaging.