HIGH-RESOLUTION SMALL-PARTS-ULTRASOUND (7 .5 MHZ) OF THE NECK

Frequently, sonography of the head and neck serves only for assessment of the thyroid and arteriosclerotic lesions of the extracranial vesse ls. This article gives a review of ultrasound of the remaining cervica l structures, particularly space-occupying lesions. The differentiatio n between malignant and benign lymphadenopathy or between intraglandul ar 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 retropharyngea l and retrotracheal space.