can you detect a small stroke with a mri
Answer from Ted Lowenkopf, M.D. , medical director of Providence Stroke Center: Yes, you can have a stroke and not know it. A stroke's effects can be undetectable if the stroke is small or if the tissue damaged does not serve a critical function. Evidence of the stroke would show on a CT scan or an MRI of the brain, but it might not produce symptoms. But you really may be asking if a stroke can occur without your realizing, at the time, that it's happening â such as when you are asleep or when the effects are minor. Letâs look at those two scenarios separately.