[The significance of cranial computerized tomography for diagnosis and therapy of inflammatory diseases of the brain and meninges in children (author's transl)]

The significance of cranial computerized tomography (CCT) for the diagnosis and therapy of inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system in children is discussed in connection with five characteristic case studies. CCT is shown to be superior to classical neuroradiological approaches, and to allow important diagnostic insights: 1. the early recognition of diffuse brain edema and the resulting possibility of an early begin of therapy--2. the pathological expansions of the cerebral ventricles of various etiology before a pathological enlargement of the head can be detected, and the size of the ventricles after neurosurgical therapy can be measured--3. the early recognition of space-occupying inflammatory complications.