Inflammatory diseases of the brain are caused by many different etiologies and come in various
disguises; sometimes the diagnosis is straightforward, most of the time it is not. In fact, the diagnosis
and differential diagnosis of inflammatory diseases of the brain often are very confusing.
There is a wide variety of causative agents and inflammatory pathways ranging from bacteria,
fungi, parasites, viruses, prions, and toxins to autoimmune diseases.
Inflammatory diseases of the brain can mimic many other intracranial pathoentities, e.g.,
they can be tumefactive, disguised as meningiosis or intracranial hypotension, and sometimes
can even be difficult to separate from infarctions, let alone telling them apart from each other.
Fortunately, the (neuro-)radiologist’s arsenal of weapons has grown over the years, especially
with the advent of new MR techniques, e.g., diffusion- and perfusion-weighted imaging and MR
spectroscopy, and other sophisticated methods of MR examination have added to the diagnostic
options of the radiologist.