Review Article   

Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences 2022 Oct 14

DOI: 10.23736/S0390-5616.22.05866-0

Copyright © 2022 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Applicability and efficacy of ultrasound elastography in neurosurgery: a systematic review of the literature

Ismail ZAED ¹ ✉, Giuseppe M. DELLA PEPA ², Delia CANNIZZARO ^{3, 4}, Grazia MENNA ², Andrea CARDIA ⁵

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, ASST Ovest Milanese, Legnano Hospital, Legnano, Milan, Italy; ² Institute of Neurosurgery, IRCCS A. Gemelli University Polyclinic Foundation, Rome, Italy; ³ Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy; ⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, IRCCS Humanitas Clinic, Rozzano, Milan, Italy; ⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, EOC, Lugano, Switzerland

INTRODUCTION: Neurosurgery is one of the fields in which intraoperative imaging is paramount. One of these main imaging tools that have been acquiring the interest of the neurosurgical community is Ultrasound elastography (USE), which is an imaging technology sensitive to tissue stiffness. Here we present a systematic review of the use of USE in neurosurgery.
EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A systematic review of the literature has been performed, according to the PRISMA guideline, for the last 30 years on 3 different databases (MEDLINE, Scopus and Cochrane), in order to gather all the studies on the use of ultrasound elastography for neurosurgical pathologies, including both clinical and laboratory studies.
EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: A total of 15 articles met the inclusion criteria. USE has widely and safely been used especially for oncological lesions (meningiomas and gliomas) and focal cortical dysplasia. However, there are also encouraging laboratory studies about its application for the management of traumatic brain injury, and ischemic stroke.
CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review showed that, despite the lack of strong evidences, USE is a valid intraoperative tool, especially in oncological neurosurgery.

KEY WORDS: Elastography; Intraoperative ultrasound; Meningioma; Glioma; Cortical dysplasia; Traumatic brain injury; Stroke