Neuroimaging Clinics: Central Nervous System Infections

Abstract

The recent Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the potential for infectious diseases to cause catastrophe of biblical scale with unprecedented speed. Within months of onset, the pandemic almost brought to their knees the health care systems of some of the most advanced and developed cities on earth, in addition to the eventual millions of mortalities and many millions more morbidities. Of the many lessons learnt and re-learnt, the importance of early diagnosis and intervention is repeatedly emphasized. This is true not just for Covid19 infections, but also for the commonest and most important central nervous system infections such as bacterial meningitis and herpes simplex encephalitis. Automated molecular diagnostic tests may provide rapid microbiologic diagnosis for a broad array of infectious agents, however, imaging modalities remain indispensable as a first line tool not only in the diagnosis of central nervous system infections, but also the detection of complications, and in providing important cues in anatomical, pathophysiological and clinical correlations. The current volume edited by Lim T and Mukherji SK contributed to a significant and timely update on this important yet often under-taught topic of central nervous system infections.