Week 5 (patho)

Cerebrovascular Disease (CVA)

atherosclerosis is the most common cause of CVA. Hypertension is a major risk.

Receptive aphasia

individuals have difficulty understanding written and spoken language.

Secondary Neurological Injury

injury that can occur after the primary injury has happened and has been treated.

Vascular dementia

loss of cognitive function resulting from ischemic or hemorrhagic brain lesions caused by cardiovascular disease. This type of dementia is the result of decreased blood supply from narrowing and blocking of arteries that supply the brain

Status epilepticus

rapid succession of seizures without intervals of consciousness. Brain damage may result.

Partial seizure

seizures which affect initially only one hemisphere of the brain.

Post-ictal phase

the last phase of a seizure; the altered state of consciousness after an epileptic seizure. It usually lasts between 5 and 30 minutes, but sometimes longer in the case of larger or more severe seizures, and is characterized by drowsiness, confusion, nausea, hypertension, headache or migraine, and other disorienting symptoms.

Hemiparesis

unilateral paresis, is weakness of one entire side of the body

Partial complex seizure

when a seizure occurs in just one area

Expressive aphasia

(Broca's) Aphasia in which patients know what they want to say but cannot say it because of their inability to coordinate the muscles controlling speech. It may be complete or partial. The Broca area is disordered or diseased.

Tonic-clonic

(grand mal seizure) Generalized Seizure; entire brain is involved from the onset; thalamus and reticular activating system results in loss of consciousness. Metabolic or toxin-induced.

Alzheimer's disease

A chronic, progressive, degenerative cognitive disorder that causes deterioration in thinking and everyday functioning among older adults.

Parkinson disease

A common, chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system that produces progressive movement disorders and changes in cognition and mood. Dopamine production by brain cells in the substantia nigra is diminished in the disease.

Seizure

A convulsion or other clinically detectable event caused by a sudden discharge of electrical activity in the brain. A sudden attack of pain, disease, or specific symptoms.

Epilepsy

A disease marked by recurrent seizures, i.e., by repetitive abnormal electrical discharges within the brain.

Epidural hematoma

A hematoma above the dura mater, usually arterial, except in posterior fossa.

Transient Ischemic attack (TIA)

A neurologic deficit, having a reversible vascular cause, that produces stroke symptoms that resolve within 24 hr. Causes include atherosclerosis, esp. of the carotid arteries, intracranial arteries, or the aorta.

Dementia

A progressive, irreversible decline in mental function.

Generalized seizure

A seizure in which abnormal electrical activity occurs in large areas of the brain. Generalized seizures usually result in loss of consciousness.

Embolic Stroke

A stroke caused a blood clot or plaque debris that develops elsewhere in the body and then travels through the bloodstream to a blood vessel in the brain.

Thrombotic stroke

A stroke caused by a blood clot that develops in the blood vessels within the brain. Blockage of the artery is gradual, and therefore the onset of the symptoms of thrombotic strokes is relatively slow.

Hemorrhagic stroke

A stroke caused by a rupture of a blood vessel or an abnormal vascular structure

Ischemic stroke

A stroke caused by diminished blood flow to a particular artery in the brain, e.g., as a result of a clot or an embolus blocking an artery.

Aura

A subjective but recognizable sensation that precedes and signals the onset of a convulsion or migraine headache.

Aphasia

Absent or impaired ability to communicate by speech, writing, or signs because of brain dysfunction. It is considered complete or total when both sensory and motor areas are involved.

Delirium

An acute, reversible state of disorientation, inattention, and confusion.

Increased intracranial pressure (IICP)

An elevation of the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid. In healthy people range between 0 and 15 mm Hg. Higher than 20 mm Hg increase the risk of compression or herniation of the brain or brainstem.

Concussion

An injury resulting from impact with an object. Partial or complete loss of function, as that resulting from a blow or fall.

Hemianopia

Blindness in one half of the visual field.

Homonymous hemianopia

Blindness of the nasal half of the visual field of one eye and of the temporal half of the other, or right-sided or left-sided hemianopsia of corresponding sides in both eyes.

Absence

Brief temporary loss of consciousness, as may occur in petit mal epilepsy.

Ataxia

Defective muscular coordination, esp. that manifested when voluntary muscular movements are attempted.

Neglect syndrome

Hemispatial neglect or unilateral inattention; An inability to recognize stimulation provided to the side of the body or the visual field damaged by a stroke in the nondominant hemisphere of the brain.

Intracerebral hemorrhage

Hemorrhage within the brain, usually caused by hypertension, and accompanied by sudden, rapid bleeding. There are usually no warning signs, and the bleeding can be severe enough to cause coma or death.

Dysphasia

Impairment of speech resulting from a brain lesion or neurodevelopmental disorder. The speech impairment is less marked than the severe or global language loss found in aphasia.

Dysarthria

Impairment or clumsiness in speaking due to diseases that affect the oral, lingual, or pharyngeal muscles. The patient's speech may be difficult to understand, but there is no evidence of aphasia.

Apraxia

Inability to perform purposive movements. Inability to use objects properly.

Agnosia

Inability to recognize or comprehend sights, sounds, words, or other sensory information.

Dysphagia

Inability to swallow or difficulty in swallowing.

Encephalitis

Inflammation of the white and gray matter of the brain. It is almost always associated with meningoencephalitis and may involve the spinal cord (encephalomyelitis).

Agraphia

Loss of the ability to write.

Ipsilateral

On the same side; affecting the same side of the body. In paralysis, this term is used for findings that appear on same side of the body as the brain or spinal cord lesion producing them.

Contralateral

Originating in or affecting the opposite side of the body.

Hemiplegia

Paralysis of one side of the body, usually resulting from damage to the corticospinal tracts of the central nervous system.

Akinesia

Partial or complete loss or suppression of muscle movement.

Primary Neurological Injury

Primary brain injury refers to damage suffered as a direct result of the initial traumatic event and may be caused by penetrating, blunt, or blast trauma.

Level of consciousness

States of arousal and awareness, ranging from fully awake and oriented to one's environment to comatose. Alert wakefulness: Drowsiness: Stupor: Coma:

Cerebral edema

Swelling of the brain. Causes include increased permeability of brain capillary endothelial cells, focal strokes, swelling of brain cells associated with hypoxia or water intoxication, trauma to the skull, or interstitial edema due to obstructive hydrocephalus.

Cognitive Impairment

The loss of intellectual function, i.e., of thinking effectively. Persistent may occur in older adults.

Intracranial pressure

The pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid in the subarachnoid space between the skull and the brain. The pressure is normally the same as that found during lumbar puncture.

Myoclonic (myocolonus)

Twitching, quivering, jerking, or clonic spasm of a muscle or group of muscles

Subdural hematoma

a collection of blood between the dura mater and the arachnoid layer of the meninges of the brain that is generally of venous origin, usually caused by injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

a serious form of head injury that includes any injury or trauma to the scalp, skull, or brain

Subarachnoid hemorrhage

a stroke resulting from intracranial bleeding into the cerebrospinal fluid-filled space between the arachnoid and pia mater membranes on the surface of the brain.

Closed head trauma

a trauma in which the brain is injured as a result of a blow to the head, or a sudden, violent motion that causes the brain to knock against the skull. No object actually penetrates the brain.