Abstract
Neuroimaging plays an important and growing role in the diagnosis and therapeutic management of pediatric brain infections. This article describes the spectrum of imaging findings associated with major pediatric viral and bacterial brain infections, outlining the role of current imaging technology in the differential diagnoses of brain injury, detection of complications and therapy monitoring. MRI is the tool of choice in the evaluation of brain infections and particular attention is devoted to the role of diffusion-weighted imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This article considers viral and bacterial infection in their different modalities of presentation as congenital, acute and subacute/chronic disease. With regard to congenital infections, the growing role of fetal MRI as a valuable complement to ultrasound in the prenatal assessment of brain damage is emphasized.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 737-751 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2011 |
Keywords
- acute disseminated encephalomyelitis
- congenital infection
- fetal MRI
- meningoencephalitis
- MRI
- pediatric brain infection
- viral encephalitis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Infectious Diseases
- Microbiology (medical)
- Microbiology
- Virology