Intracranial pyogenic abscess: imaging diagnosis utilizing recent advances in computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging

Intracranial abscesses are life-threatening medical emergencies with pyogenic debris accumulating in the brain. Delay in the diagnosis can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging play an important role in the diagnosis of brain abscesses. However, the classic ring-enhancing appearance of an intracranial abscess can be mimicked by several other entities, most notably a necrotic tumor. This paper reviews new advances in CT and MR for imaging patients with suspected brain abscess. The role of computed tomography (CT) perfusion and new magnetic resonance sequences including DWI sequences, ADC map, MR spectroscopy, FLAIR and post-contrast enhanced T1 weighted images will also be discussed.