<prompt> In herpes encephalitis, all of the following are true, exceptFocal symptoms commonTemporal lobe involvedMRI is diagnosticCT scan better than MRI  <response>: Harrison;s principles of internal medicine 17 th edition. Focal finding in patient with encephalitis should always raise the possibility of HSV encephalitis .examples of focal findings include1 areas of increased signal intensity in the frontotemporal ,cingulate or insular region of brain on T2 weighted,FLAIR or diffuse weighted MRI images 2focal areas of low absorption on mass effect and contrast enhanced on CT 3periodic focal temporal lobes spikes on background of slow flattened activity on EEG 80cases have abnormality in temporal lobe CT is less sensitive than MRI. 