MRI and cranial traumas in the acute phase.

The authors have reviewed 12 cases of severe cranial trauma examined by MRI and determine the position of this method in exploration in the acute phase. Since the 1970's, computerized tomography (CT) has completely modified the emergency diagnosis. Intra- and extracerebral blood effusions are readily recognized, but the patient is often in a dangerous situation and little help is obtained from CT which does not detect shearing lesions located in the white matter, the corpus callosum or the brain stem. Early MRI examination performed with gradient-echo sequences provides a better anatomico-clinical correlation, a better prognostic approach and even a new therapeutic approach.