Cortical, subcortical and spinal alterations in neuroimmunological diseases

Inflammatory and immune mediated diseases of the nervous system are reflected by a broad spectrum of different clinical deficits. The reason for this is that inflammation may affect any part of the nervous system. Nevertheless, certain regions in the brain and spinal cord are more frequently affected than others. The topographical distribution of inflammatory lesions in the nervous system depends upon a large variety of different factors, which are different in the various infectious and autoimmune diseases. Aim of this short review is to discuss the main factors determining lesional topography in brain inflammation and to illustrate these patterns of tissue injury with clinical examples.