In mild traumatic brain injury, imaging may show which of the following?

• A. CT shows large hemorrhage
• B. MRI shows no evidence of brain damage
• C. MRI shows skull fracture
• D. EEG shows global paralysis

Answer: (B)

In mild traumatic brain injury, imaging often looks normal even when symptoms are present. This means that a MRI showing no evidence of brain damage fits with the typical reality that structural changes may be too subtle to detect in mild cases, or may not be present at all.

The other statements describe findings that point to more than mild injury or to imaging used for different purposes. A large hemorrhage on CT signals a more severe injury, not characteristic of mild TBI. An MRI showing a skull fracture isn’t typical—skull fractures are bone injuries best seen on CT rather than MRI, and this would imply a different type of injury mechanism. EEG findings, like “global paralysis,” aren’t an imaging finding and don’t reflect brain structure in the way MRI or CT do; EEG measures electrical activity, not anatomy, and isn’t used to diagnose the level of injury in this context.

So the statement that MRI may show no evidence of brain damage best captures how imaging can appear normal in mild TBI.