Meningitis MRI Protocol

Plain "MRI Protocol for Meningitis"
Sag T1
Ax T1
Ax T2 FSE/TSE
Ax FLAIR FSE/TSE
Ax DWI / ADC / B0
Cor T2 FSE/TSE

Post Contrast "MRI Protocol for Meningitis"
 T1 Axial
 T1 Coronal
 FLAIR Axial

"MRI Protocol for Meningitis" Technical Notes

• Coronal and sagittal thin-section, heavily T2-weighted MRIs may show CSF leaks, which may be the source of infection in cases of recurrent meningitis.
• Plain and contrast-enhanced MRIs help to depict the complications of meningitis. Such complications include empyema/effusion, cerebritis/abscess, venous thrombosis, venous and arterial infarcts, ventriculitis, hydrocephalus, and edema (with or without cerebral herniation). 
• The imaging features of meningitis are non-specific, demonstrating abnormal meningeal enhancement. MRI is superior to CT in the evaluation of patients with suspected meningitis 
•  Add FLAIR post gad in suspected meningeal disease.
•  For brainstem and midline lesions get sagittal post gad instead of coronal.
•  For pineal lesions add thin sagittal T2 and T1 pre and post gad images.
•  Single voxel spectroscopy (TE 35 and 144) on all new mass lesions
•  Multi voxel only on suspected gliomas. For follow-up use TE 144.

 T1 weighted pre and post-contrast MRI's demonstrate non-specific abnormal meningeal enhancement.