Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) image of a cross- section of the head of a person suffering from a subdural haematoma, a condition involving the loss of blood into the space between the brain & skull. Image contrast has been enhanced by prior injection of a gadolinium compound (Gd-DPTA). The blood (indicated by the 2 elongated white areas on left side of brain) builds up & cannot escape; the increased intercranial pressure could endanger life. The condition may arise in elderly people, when a slight injury may tear the blood vessels that cross the space beneath the dura (the outermost layer surrounding the brain).