Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26243159›Full record

ArticleChild's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery2015

Intraoperative ultrasound in pediatric brain tumors: does the surgeon get it right?

Ash Singhal, A Ross Hengel, Paul Steinbok, D Doug Cochrane

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. 5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) in paediatric brain tumour surgery-a systematic review and exploration of fluorophore alternatives.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Intraoperative MRI versus intraoperative ultrasound in pediatric brain tumor surgery: is expensive better than cheap? A review of the literature.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2022
    Pooled it
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. The Value of Intraoperative Ultrasound in Brain Surgery.Advances and technical standards in neurosurgery · 2024
    Article
  6. Evolution of surgical attitudes to paediatric thalamic tumours: the alder hey experience.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2021
    Review
  7. The impact of intraoperative magnetic resonance in routine pediatric neurosurgical practice-a 6-year appraisal.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2018
    Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Ash SinghalDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia and BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. ash.singhal@cw.bc.ca.
A Ross HengelDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia and BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Paul SteinbokDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia and BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
D Doug CochraneDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia and BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
University of British Columbia · CABC Children's Hospital · CAChildren's Hospital · TN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeIntraoperative ultrasound (iUS) is a valuable tool-inexpensive, adds minimal surgical time, and involves minimal risk. The diagnostic predictive value of iUS is not fully characterized in Pediatric Neurosurgery. Our objective is to determine if surgeon-completed iUS has good concordance with post-operative MRI in estimating extent of surgical resection (EOR) of pediatric brain tumors.

methodsWe reviewed charts of all pediatric brain tumor resections (single institution 2006-2013). Those with iUS and postoperative imaging (<1 week) were included. The surgeon's estimation of the EOR based on iUS and the post-operative neuroimaging results (gold standard) were collected, as well as information about the patients/tumors.

resultsTwo hundred two resections were reviewed and 58 cases were included. Twenty-six of the excluded cases utilized iUS but did not have EOR indicated. The concordance of interpretation between iUS and post-operative MRI was 98.3%. Of 43 cases where iUS suggested gross total resection, 42 were confirmed on MRI (negative predictive value (NPV), 98%). All 15 cases where iUS suggested subtotal resection were confirmed on MRI (positive predictive value (PPV), 100 %). Agreement between iUS and post-operative imaging had an overall Kappa score of 0.956, signifying almost perfect agreement.

conclusionThe results from this study suggest that iUS is reliable with both residual tumor (PPV-100%) and when it suggests no residual (NPV-98%) in tumors that are easily identifiable on iUS. However, tumors that were difficult to visualize on iUS were potentially excluded, and therefore, these results should not be extrapolated for all brain tumor types.

Indexed as

AdolescentBrain NeoplasmsChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMonitoring, IntraoperativeNeurosurgical ProceduresRetrospective StudiesTomography, X-Ray ComputedUltrasonographyYoung AdultBrain tumorsEORExtent of resectionIntraoperative ultrasoundiUSPediatricPost-operative MR

Identifiers

PMID26243159
OpenAlexW1072009987

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.