Small cortical enhancing lesions mimicking metastases were demonstrated on contrast imaging in three patients without specific neurologic deficits corresponding to the lesions. One patient had a lung carcinoma. However, all had cardiac arrhythmias known as major sources of cerebral emboli. Two had early cerebral infarcts and ischemic heart diseases. The lesions disappeared spontaneously on follow-up studies. They were subsequently presumed to be small infarcts. Clinical information and follow-up examinations are important to differentiate these small cortical lesions from metastases, (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 1998.