Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cerebral Malaria Patients Reveals Distinct Pathogenetic Processes in Different Parts of the Brain.

The mechanisms underlying the rapidly reversible brain swelling described in patients with cerebral malaria (CM) are unknown. Using a 1.5-Tesla (T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, we undertook an observational study in Rourkela, India, of 11 Indian patients hospitalized with CM and increased brain volume.

Magnetic resonance imaging during life: the key to unlock cerebral malaria pathogenesis?

Understanding the mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of cerebral malaria in patients with Plasmodium falciparum infection is necessary to implement new curative interventions. While autopsy-based studies shed some light on several pathological events that are believed to be crucial in the development of this neurologic syndrome, their investigative potential is limited and has not allowed the identification of causes of death in patients who succumb to it. This can only be achieved by comparing features between patients who die from cerebral malaria and those who survive.