This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (15)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related articles  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Radiologic Imaging  • Review  • Ultrasonography  • Dermatologic Procedures  • Dermatologic Procedures, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Monika-Hildegard Schmid-Wendtner, MD; Walter Burgdorf, MD

Arch Dermatol. 2005;141:217-224.

In recent years, ultrasound scanning has become an important diagnostic tool in dermatology. It is easy to use, completely safe, and provides important diagnostic information. There are 2 basic types of ultrasonography with dermatologic applications. The best established is 20-MHz scanning, which can be used to measure tumor thickness and/or skin thickness when treating inflammatory diseases such as scleroderma or psoriasis. Real-time sonography with 7.5- to 10-MHz probes has assumed an increasingly important role, since it is used to search for and image lymph nodes and subcutaneous tumors in a variety of clinical settings, including preoperative staging and follow-up of melanoma. Ultrasonography is capable of revealing the 3-dimensional size and outline of subcutaneous lesions, for example, lymph nodes, subcutaneous tumor masses or hematomas, and their relation to adjacent vessels. Moreover, information about the lesion quality (solid, cystic, and combined) and the inner structure (homogeneous, inhomogeneous, hypoechoic, hyperechoic, calcification foci, and necroses) can be obtained. All this information can be combined to help distinguish between benign and malignant lymphadenopathy and to determine the malignant potential of a subcutaneous lesion. In addition to conventional B-mode sonography, newer ultrasound techniques such as native and signal-enhanced color Doppler sonography can be used to assess peripheral lymph nodes.

Author Affiliations: Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Friedrich-Wilhelms University, Bonn, Germany (Dr Schmid-Wendtner); and Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich, Germany (Dr Burgdorf).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLES

Ultrasonography Using Simple Diagnostic Criteria vs Palpation for the Detection of Regional Lymph Node Metastases of Melanoma
Philippe Saiag, Marion Bernard, Alain Beauchet, Marie-Lise Bafounta, Isabelle Bourgault-Villada, and Sophie Chagnon
Arch Dermatol. 2005;141(2):183-189.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Value of Preoperative Determination of Skin Tumor Thickness With 20-MHz Ultrasound
Dragan L. Jovanovic, Vuka Katic, and Braslav Jovanovic
Arch Dermatol. 2005;141(2):269-270.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Biotechnology Succeeds in Revolutionizing Medical Science
Robinson and Callen
Arch Dermatol 2005;141:133-134.
FULL TEXT