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CT dense MCA

Last updated on Monday, July 8 2013 by jdmiles

CT dense MCA

This is a head CT from a person who has recently begun to show symptoms of a severe left MCA stroke. As CT does not show tissue changes in the first several hours, the brain parenchyma appears normal even though it is infarcting. What can be seen sometimes, and is seen in this image, is an unusually radiodense appearance of the left middle cerebral artery. The clotted blood in this artery gives it a brighter white appearance than the right MCA.

Related images:

Normal head CT
A normal head CT for comparison. The left MCA is visible, but is less dense (it is a darker shade of grey).

CT dense MCA highlighted

CT dense MCA highlighted
The green area in this image highlights the middle cerebral artery.

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