Findings

• Fracture line: A sharp, linear lucency (dark line) cuts completely through the skull vault (calvarium), disrupting both the outer and inner cortical tables of the bone. This is the classic appearance of a linear skull fracture on CT.
• No displacement: The bone fragments are not shifted apart - this is a non-displaced fracture.
• Soft tissue swelling: There is mild scalp swelling (hematoma/edema) overlying the fracture site on the outer surface, which is a common associated finding and helps confirm the location of impact.

Important Notes

1. Linear skull fractures by themselves are not always dangerous, but the primary concern is what lies underneath - specifically whether there is an epidural hematoma (blood between skull and dura), which can be associated with fractures crossing the middle meningeal artery groove.
2. A full review of the entire CT scan (all axial slices, brain window settings) by a qualified radiologist is essential to rule out intracranial hemorrhage or other brain injury.
3. This image appears to be a photograph taken of a monitor rather than a direct digital export, so image quality is reduced. Clinical decisions must be based on the original DICOM dataset.