Porth Patho Chapter 37: Disorders of Brain Function

According to the Glasgow Coma Scale, opening one's eyes to only painful stimuli would receive which score?

2

A nurse on a neurology unit is assessing a client with a brain injury. The client is unresponsive to speech, with dilated pupils that do not react to light. The client is breathing regularly with a respiratory rate is 45 breaths per minute. In response to a noxious stimulus, the client's arms and legs extend rigidly. What is the client's level of impairment?

Coma

A football player collides violently with the helmet of another player. The helmet protected him from the initial impact, but the movement of the brain in his cranium resulted in bruised and torn tissue with many small hematomas. What type of injury did this client incur?

Contrecoup

Excessive activity of the excitatory neurotransmitters and their receptor-mediated effects is the cause of which type of brain injury?

Excitotoxic

A nurse at a long-term care facility provides care for a client who has had recent transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). What significance should the nurse attach to the resident's TIAs?

TIAs, by definition, resolve rapidly, but they constitute an increased risk for stroke.

An adult client has been admitted to a rehabilitation center after hospital treatment for an ischemic stroke. Which aspect of the client's history would be considered to have contributed to his stroke?

The client's blood pressure has historically been in the range of 150s/90s.

The most common cause of an ischemic stroke is which of the following?

Thrombosis