Magnetic resonance imaging in infections of the brain: findings in tuberculosis, listeriosis, toxoplasmosis, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, and multiple sclerosis.

A total of 6 patients with various inflammatory brain diseases were investigated by MRI. Typical diagnostic criteria like signal intensity, location, and morphology of the lesions are presented. MRI proves to be a highly sensitive method to detect encephalitic foci, which, however, suffers from a low specificity. Therefore additional informations like case history, clinical findings, and serological data have to be considered to find the correct diagnosis.