Read Your Scan

No acute intracranial abnormality

Read Your Scan Editorial Team·Last updated

Written from published radiology references and reviewed for plain language. Not written or signed by a physician, and not a diagnosis. How we write these pages

In plain language

Nothing inside the skull needs emergency treatment right now: no fresh bleed, no new stroke damage visible, no dangerous swelling. It is a statement about today, not a clean bill of health — long-standing changes can still be described further down the report.

Where you’ll see this

The impression of a head CT or brain MRI, especially one ordered after a fall, a headache or a visit to A&E.

Your report may word it No acute intracranial process or No acute intracranial findings. These mean the same thing.

Questions worth asking your doctor

  • Does "no acute abnormality" rule out the thing I was sent here for?
  • Are the changes described lower down old, and do they need anything?
  • Which symptoms would mean I should come back and be scanned again?

Careful and hedged wording

Where this word comes up

See this word on your own scan

Upload your scan (de-identified in your browser) and your radiologist’s report, and every finding is mapped onto the images, explained in plain language and scored. Informational only — not a diagnosis.

Read Your Scan is informational only — not a medical diagnosis, and not a substitute for a licensed radiologist or your doctor. If you have urgent symptoms, seek care.