Proton MR spectroscopy in the diagnosis and differentiation of encephalitis from other mimicking lesions.

In this study, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) findings of encephalitis were reported. For comparison, other lesions mimicking encephalitis on conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging were included in the study. These lesions consisted of acute infarctions and low grade infiltrative gliomas. The 1H MRS findings of encephalitis and gliomas were almost the same whereas infarctions revealed high lactate levels differentiating the disorder from other two pathologies. The differentiation of encephalitis and gliomas based on MR findings could reliably made with short time follow up MR examinations where gliomas tend to grow in contrast to encephalitis which showed regression.