Ultrasonido intraoperatorio para detección de tumores intracraneales.

Objective: To characterize the main variables of intracranial tumors through intraoperative ultrasound. Methods: Thirty-eight patients, who underwent multislice computed tomography of the skull, magnetic resonance imaging with tractography, prior to surgery, were included. The intraoperative ultrasound equipment used was an Aloka alpha 5 Pro-Sound. The type and topography of the tumor, the characteristics of the ultrasound, the degree of resection and the evolution were studied. Results: The age range was between 19 years and 74 years. There was a predominance of lesions with high degree of malignancy (57.9 %). Glioblastoma multiform prevailed with 15 patients (39.5 %), followed by metastases and benign tumors with 7 cases each. All lesions were observed by ultrasound and in 34 cases (89.5 %) the edges were well defined. Total tumor resection was performed in 34 patients, 17 of them with localization in eloquent areas. The four partial surgeries were two lesions in motor areas, a bi-frontal butterfly wing glioma and a giant olfactory groove meningioma. Karnofski scale at 30 days was greater than preoperative in 35 cases (92.1 %). It remained the same in one patient and in two cases was lower. Conclusions: The use of intraoperative ultrasound allowed to characterize all lesions in real time. It was useful to plan the corticotomy and verify the level of the resection at all times. The clinical status and level of validity, according to Karnofski scale, improved in the majority of patients in the first 30 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]