Radiological Imaging in Brain Disorders: An Overview

Abstract

The key role of neuroimaging in brain disorders is to assist clinical management by either making a precise diagnosis or providing clinically relevant differential diagnoses. There is a marked diversity of neuropathologies spanning a constellation of conditions including vascular, infectious-inflammatory, degenerative and neoplastic entities, and the clinical presentations can often be quite nonspecific, hence the key role of neuroimaging is formulating a management plan. Cranial ultrasonography (US), Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance (MR) are the currently available modalities of neuroimaging, each with its specific strengths and limitations. Overall, MR Imaging (MRI) is the most useful technique to study the brain, given its higher soft tissue contrast, although CT has a central role still in acute imaging and is also the best technique to investigate for associated bony disorders. Cranial US has a vital role in foetal and neonatal imaging given its bedside ease and the presence of a good acoustic window—the skull foramina in this population. This chapter focuses on those clinical applications of neuroimaging that complement the practice of nuclear medicine with special relevance to CT and MRI.