[The sonographic diagnosis of tumours of the chest wall (author's transl)].

Ultrasound diagnosis depends on the registration and evaluation of sonic impulses and their reflections which explore the interior of the body safely and differentiate between various tissues. The B-scan technique permits the production of transverse sections and has become an important aid to diagnosis in obstetrics, gynaecology, gastro-enterology and urology. Gas and bone do not conduct the high frequency impulses. Consequently sonography has remained unimportant in the thorax, with the exception of echo cardiography. Abnormalities of the chest wall may, however, provide an acoustic window, which occasionally makes diagnosis possible.