Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences
DOI: 10.58739/jcbs/v16i2.25.338
Year: 2026, Volume: 16, Issue: 2, Pages: 75- 83
Review Article
Ashish Kumar Shukla1*, Anshu Kumari2, Shivanshu Chauhan2
1Professor & Head of Department, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Santosh Deemed to be University, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
2Ph.D. Scholar, Junior Research Fellow, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Santosh Deemed to be University, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
*Corresponding Author
Email: [email protected]
Received Date:03 September 2025, Accepted Date:31 October 2025, Published Date:15 June 2026
Central nervous system (CNS) infections represent a major global health burden, often leading to significant neurological morbidity and mortality. Accurate and early diagnosis is essential for guiding effective treatment. Yet, conventional imaging modalities such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) often fail to detect subtle microstructural changes in the early stages of infection. Magnetization Transfer Imaging (MTI), an advanced MRI technique, offers improved sensitivity by detecting alterations in the macromolecular composition of tissues through the exchange of magnetization between bound and free water protons. This review explores the growing role of MTI in the detection, characterization, and monitoring of CNS infections. MTI enables visualization of early pathological changes such as demyelination, gliosis, and inflammation, which are typically invisible on routine sequences. It has demonstrated added diagnostic value in a wide range of infections, including tuberculous meningitis, neuro-AIDS, progressive multifocal leukoence- phalopathy, and fungal CNS diseases. Quantitative metrics like the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) and pool size ratio (PSR) provide surrogate markers for tissue integrity and therapeutic response, offering clinicians a non-invasive tool for monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy. MTI also assists in differentiating infectious lesions from neoplastic and autoimmune pathologies, improving diagnostic specificity. Integration of MTI with other modalities such as diffusion tensor imaging and MR spectroscopy enhances tissue characterization and supports precision medicine approaches. Despite current limitations such as protocol variability and limited access, the ongoing refinement of quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) techniques and standardization efforts promise to expand MTI’s clinical utility in managing CNS infections.
Keywords: CNS infections, Magnetization Transfer Imaging (MTI), Magnetization transfer ratio (MTR), Neuro-AIDS, Viral encephalitis
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Published By Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education, Kolar, Karnataka
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