Infections of the central nervous system

Abstract

Several discussions of the neuroimaging of inflammatory diseases with emphasis on computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and on rare diseases, such as sparganosis, neuroborreliosis and various types of encephalitis, have been published during the past year. Infectious processes in immunosuppressed patients have been described by many authors, especially in the field of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The importance of gadolinium-diethylenetriamine-penta-acetic acid (Gd-DTPA) in MRI for delineation, and differential diagnosis of the inflammatory processes has been considered. Newly introduced techniques such as technetium-99m hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (99mTc-HMPAO) single photon emission CT (SPECT) and proton spectroscopy have made the early detection of diseases possible.