Inflammatory disease of the brain diagnosed by computed tomography

Abstract

Inflammatory disease of the brain, particularly of pyogenic etiology, may be most accurately assessed by the use of computed tomography and contrast enhancement. Examples of cerebritis, evolving and mature intracerebral abcesses, and inflammatory extracerebral collections are presented and discussed, particularly with reference to differential diagnosis and the problem of infectious versus neoplastic etiology. Ancillary studies, particulary selective arteriography, are reviewed where appropriate. The residual changes of inflammatory disease of the brain after medical and/or surgical therapy are illustrated, and the value of serial examinations is emphasized. The rural indigent patient population (American Indian) served by the University of New Mexico Medical Center is a source of case material providing several examples of severe and untreated intracerebral infectious processes heretofore not described in the literature.