Which finding is described in the CT head without contrast?

Prepare for the Practicode Cases Part 2 Test. Review case scenarios and answer multiple choice questions with detailed explanations. Enhance your proficiency and accuracy before your final assessment!

On a CT head without contrast, acute blood appears bright and you identify the pattern by shape and location. Epidural hematomas are lens-shaped (biconvex) and stay confined by sutures, often large with rapid mass effect. Subarachnoid hemorrhage shows bright blood within the subarachnoid spaces, like the sulci and cisterns, not as a separate collection. Subdural hematomas are crescent-shaped and can cross suture lines; they may produce mild to moderate mass effect depending on size.

The described finding—small on the right with mild mass effect—fits a small right subdural hematoma, which on non-contrast CT appears as a crescentic hyperdensity along the convexity that crosses sutures and causes only mild compression of adjacent brain tissue. The other options would present with different shapes or locations (lens-shaped epidural without crossing sutures, or subarachnoid blood in the sulci/cits), or with more pronounced mass effect.