Bullet in the Brain"Is it possible that a bullet in the brain could be missed on a CAT scan of the brain? My husband got "a nick " from a bullet on his scalp whilst in Iraq and had a CAT scan that was normal....he has been acting strangely since he came home and I wonder if the bullet got into his brain after all but was missed on the CT?"
Interesting question...well, assuming we are dealing with a regular metallic bullet, then it is basically impossible to miss on a CT scan as a bullet or any similar type of metal in the brain would reflect the X-rays from the CT scanner in all directions which gives a very distinctive pattern on CT scanning. You can see an example on the right...it looks like an asterisk with the center at the place where the metal is with black and white lines coming out of it. As far as your husband goes, therefore, it is unlikely that we are dealing with a cognitive problem due to brain damage, but rather , it is more likely that he is suffering from something similar to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which can cause a variety of symptoms including neurological symptoms related to anxiety.
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