An increasing number of patients with an acute stroke syndrome are being admitted to hospitals with on-site echoplanar MRI scanners. In this pictorial review, we describe our experience of an MRI protocol in the first 150 such patients scanned in our hospital. We illustrate some of the advantages of using echoplanar MRI. Diffusion and susceptibility weighted acquisitions may supplement conventional MR sequences by providing useful additional information about the age and location of the lesion, together with a high sensitivity to the presence of blood breakdown products.