Posted: September 19th, 2015

role that Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) plays in the diagnosis of meningitis disease.

Meningitis is a relatively unusual infection that affects the fragile membranes called meninges that cover the brain and the spinal cord, causing inflammation of the protective membranes surrounding the brain and the spinal cord (Shmaefsky and Alcamo, 2005). There are different types of meningitis which depend on the causative agent and they include; bacterial meningitis, fungal meningitis, viral meningitis, parasitic meningitis and non-infectious meningitis (Shmaefsky and Alcamo, 2005). Meningitis manifests in adults differently than it does on children. For instance, in adults, the main manifestation is through a severe headache which is believed to occur in almost 90% of the patients with bacterial meningitis. The other common symptom is the inability to flex or move the neck forward due to muscle stiffness, a condition known as nuchal rigidity (Van de Beek et al, 2004). However, young children do not exhibit the same signs and symptoms only that they appear irritable and some may have an abnormal skin color and experience cold flashes (Theilen et al, 2008).

Meningitis is a fatal condition which can cause death within a short period of time. It has also been reported to account for most deaths in some countries, especially in the developing countries. For instance, a research that was carried out in Northeastern brazil hospital showed that of all admissions within a span of nine years, 6, 751 (27%) were for meningitis with young children below 15 years accounting for 79% and those below 2 years accounting for 45%. The fatality rates were also very high meaning that meningitis is a dangerous condition if not managed properly (Bryan et al, 1990).

Meningitis disease requires a diagnosis called MRI which uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body. Images from an MRI scan provide more detailed results than those from a CT scan. The tests carried out on patients give different information about structures in the body than those seen with an x-ray, or computed tomography (CT) scan. In addition, MRI can detect inflammations in the brain, and spinal cord as well as other infections, eye diseases, and tumors, among other. Due to the severity of the disease, MRI should be carried out besides other types of assessment to ensure timely and accurate diagnosis. The diagnosis will help rule out other factors such as brain abscess, epidural abscess, encephalitis, syphilis, tuberculosis, chemical exposure, and mumps, which may also be responsible for the observed symptoms (Good, 2000). Other studies have provided evidence indicating that magnetization transfer MRI can be a useful tool in the diagnosis of tuberculosis meningitis (Trivedi, 2009). This has been attributed to its ability to easily and abruptly detect the presence of meningitis infection. It also provides greater intrinsic sensitivity and specificity than CT scans implying that it is better in diagnosing meningitis than the CT scan (Kastrup, Wanke and Maschke, 2005). MRI has also proven to be more effective to CT especially in complicated cases involving seizures and other evolving focal signs. It has been found to have the capacity to demonstrate parenchymal lesions due to meningoencephalitis or vasculitic complications on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequences (Maconochie and Bhaumik, 2014).

MRI can also be used in along with magnetization transfer imaging, diffusion imaging, and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques are also effective tissue characterization in meningitis tuberculosis (Good, 2000).

• determine the role of magnetic resonance in the evaluation of patients with meningitis, chronic and recurrent aseptic meningitis among others.
• determine the diagnostic accuracy MRI in the diagnosis of meningitis.
• show how the advantages of MRI can help reduce diagnosis time for meningitis patients.
• determine the efficiency of MRI in terms of image quality.
• determine the efficiency of MRI 1.5T.

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