Abstract
One of the major advantages of sonography compared to other modalities for imaging of the soft tissues, such as MRI and CT, is its ability to acquire images in virtually every orientation along the course of a peripheral nerve. This however results in a very complex regional topographic anatomy. Therefore a well-founded knowledge of regional anatomy and topography is an indispensable prerequisite for the sonographic assessment of peripheral nerves. The typical sonographic appearance of nerves must be distinguished from other soft tissue structures and may change substantially depending on the type of surrounding tissue elements. Usually nerves present as longitudinal bands with a mixture of hyperechoic (peri- and epineurium) and hypoechoic elements (fascicle groups) in longitudinal sonograms. In the transverse plane a variable number of hypoechoic dots (fascicle groups) is surrounded by hyperechoic epineurium with hyperechoic septa between the fascicles (Silvestri et al. 1995).
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Gruber, H., Kovacs, P. (2008). Sonographic Anatomy of the Peripheral Nervous System. In: Peer, S., Bodner, G. (eds) High-Resolution Sonography of the Peripheral Nervous System. Medical Radiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-49084-5_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-49084-5_2
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