Rabies CT

Overview
Rabies runs its course very rapidly throughout the body. Once symptoms begin to appear, the disease is almost always fatal. With a disease that progresses so quickly, imaging is often very difficult to do and it is not used very often. Although it is not done very often, there are certain manifestations with a CT scan that can be seen in Rabies patients.

CT
If there is enough time to take a CT scan of a suspected rabies patient, there are a few things that can be looked for. A CT scan may display focal or diffuse areas of decreased attenuation in the hippocampus, brain stem, basal ganglia, and periventricular white matter. There is also the possibility of pontine hemorrhages being reported. In advanced cases, it is possible to see diffused cerebral edema.