MRI in rabies encephalitis

Human rabies leads to a mortality of 55 000 deaths/year worldwide, out of which mortality in India is 20 000, hence is regarded as an endemic in the subcontinent. Even though rabies is definitively confirmed by the isolation of virus from biological samples or detection of the rabies antigen or antibodies, MRI of the brain may also be used as one of the modalities of investigation for the early detection of rabies. It is worthwhile to note that the imaging features of rabies encephalitis on diffusion-weighted imaging have not been described.1 ,2 The postmortem diagnosis of rabies is more sensitive and specific as …