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I think the point of interest is the CT scans, but even after reading the text (is it a summary or the whole body? I can't tell), I still can't interpret the im
by happytoexplain 5y ago
I think the point of interest is the CT scans, but even after reading the text (is it a summary or the whole body? I can't tell), I still can't interpret the images. Is the dark area somehow empty space, or what? Also, the title is very strange. For a while I thought it was supposed to be the point of interest. I'm left pretty confused, as a layman.
- dexwiz 5y agoBasically his brain has huge fluid sacs pressing most of his brain matter up against his skull.
- The_rationalist 5y ago
- ninesnines 5y agoIn the main figure, all of the dark grey/black part of the image is cerebrospinal fluid, which usually is present in the 4th, 3rd, and lateral ventricles. These ventricles are usually much smaller than this patient. Usually, where the dark spaces are with this patient you would instead see cortical and subcortical regions. If you look up ‘brain MRI’ you will see a brain that has a lot of grey matter and much smaller dark regions which are the ventricles! Hopefully this makes sense, if not, I can clarify! :)
- happytoexplain 5y agoAh ha, thanks, I was thinking "ventricle" referred to a region of brain tissue - and yet I know what a heart ventricle is, so I feel dumb. Something about the casual objectivity of science writing paired with such dramatic images made me unsure if what I'm looking at is as wild as it seems. And it is!
- ninesnines 5y agoAh no worries I don’t think it’s a normal thing to know and it is a super extreme patient! It’s my job to look at images like this, and even I was confused for a second because it’s such an extreme case!