Objective To explore the applicability of CT combined MRI during cerebral infarction screening.Methods Eighty patients with cerebral infarction treated between May 2014 to July 2017 in our hospital were retrospectively selected,who were subjected to CT and MRI detection.The detection rate and total detection rate of cerebral infarction by different examination methods and at different time points were compared.Results The total detection rate of cerebral infarction(95.00%) and the detection rate (93.75%) within 12 hours of treatment in the joint examination group were significantly higher than those of the MRI examination group(82.50% and 75.00% respectively)and those of CT examination(62.50%,50.00%),so the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The 12 to 24 h detection rates using the joint examination(95.00%)and MRI examination(85.00%) were significantly higher than that of CT examination(65.00%), and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).There was no statistically significant difference between the joint examination and MRI examination in the detection rate.The detection rate of the three methods 24 h after treatment was 100.00%.Conclusions In cerebral infarction screening, the examination method should be selected according to the time of treatment of the patients.MRI is more effective for screening brain infarction than CT, and their combination can produce a better detection rate.