high intensity on T1-weighted images (Fig. 12) and low on T2-weighted images, as well as
increasing mass effect and vasogenic edema on both CT and MR. The early capsule on CT
appears as a thin, enhancing rim, with low attenuation in the center of the lesion (Fig. 13A
and B). On MR, the rim becomes increasingly well defined, and the center of the lesion
Figure 12 Contrast-enhanced T1-weighted axial
MR image of the brain demonstrates two ring-
enhancing lesions in the temporal lobes (arrows)in
a 52-year-old female with Nocardia cerebritis.Figure 13 (A) Axial CT image of the brain in a three-year-old male with congenital heart disease demonstrates
two subcortical, low-attenuation lesions in the right cerebral hemisphere (arrows). (B) After IV contrast
administration, both lesions demonstrate thin, peripheral enhancement (arrows) with central low density consistent
with brain abscesses.
86 Luongo et al.