Is there a difference between brain MRI and brain CT?

Brain MRI is different from brain CT. Brain CT is the most commonly used examination for acute stroke patients. It is very important to identify early cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. Brain CT is not sensitive to small infarction in acute stage, especially small infarction in brainstem and cerebellum. MRI can show the lesion area within hours after onset. Compared with CT, brain MRI can detect brainstem, cerebellum and small focal infarction. Functional MRI such as diffusion weighted imaging and perfusion weighted imaging can detect ischemic changes within minutes after onset. The sensitivity of MRI diagnosis of early infarction can reach 88%-100%.