Intraoperative power Doppler ultrasonography with a contrast-enhancing agent for intracranial tumors.

Object. The goal of this study was to evaluate intraoperative power Doppler ultrasonography when used with a contrast-enhancing agent for operations on intracranial tumors. Methods. Forty intracranial tumors were examined using power Doppler ultrasonography with a galactose micro-particle—based ultrasonographic contrast-enhancing agent during operations on the brain. The tumors included 37 intracranial neoplasms (14 gliomas, six meningiomas, three hemangioblastomas, two malignant lymphomas, three other primary neoplasms, nine metastatic tumors, and three nonneoplastic lesions). All patients also underwent computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, and all but three of the patients underwent digital subtraction (DS) angiography. Before injection of the ultrasonographic contrast agent, intra- and peritumoral power Doppler flow signals were detected in 32 of the intracranial tumors. After the injection, the signals were enhanced in blood vessels around the tumors and in the tumor parenchyma in 3...