DIFFUSION-WEIGHTED MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMA GING FOR DEMONSTRATION OF CEREBRAL INFARCTS

Forty-one patients demonstrating clinical symptoms for cerebral infarc tion were investigated by magnetic resonance imaging with diffusion-we ighted echo-planar imaging (DWI) and T2-weighted imaging (T2WI). In 8 patients only DWI showed the cerebral lesions clearly. One patient wit h positive DWI and T2WI suffered from HSV encephalitis. DWI is superio r to T2WI in assessment of small cortical infarcts and cerebral infarc tion in patients with preexisting vascular lesions. DWI is not specifi c, so other causes like cerebral hematoma and encephalitis have to be considered.