Imaging of cranial meningitis and ventriculitis.

A spectrum of infectious diseases may affect the cranial meninges. Contrast-enhanced MR imaging and fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery MR techniques are superior to contrast-enhanced computed tomography for detecting and characterizing most pathologic meningeal conditions. In patients with meningitis, a major role of medical imaging is to identify potential complications such as hydrocephalus, extra-axial mass-forming infectious collections, parenchymal infarcts related to arteritis, ventriculitis, and associated underlying parenchymal abscesses or granuloma formations. Early diagnosis of such complications may reduce the rate of morbidity and mortality in this group of patients.