Brain

Which of the following findings is the MOST clinically significant when assessing a patient with a severe headache? B:An unsteady gait

A:Retroorbital pressure B:An unsteady gait C:Nausea or vomiting D:BP of 140/88 mm Hg

What portion of the brain regulates a person's level of consciousness?

Reticular activating system

A 52-year-old man has a headache and visual disturbances that have progressively worsened over the past 3 months. These symptoms are MOST consistent with: A:a subdural bleed. B:bacterial meningitis. C:a cerebral neoplasm. D:an epidural hematoma. You selected C; This is correct!

The patient's symptoms are consistent with a space-occupying intracranial lesion such as a neoplasm (tumor or growth), which typically presents with a headache, visual disturbances, and other symptoms that progressively worsen over a period of several months. In some patients, a new-onset of seizures may be the only presenting sign of a brain tumor. Subdural hemorrhages commonly present with symptoms within 12 to 24 hours following head trauma. An epidural hematoma presents with symptoms immediately following a head injury and causes rapid clinical deterioration. Patients with bacterial meningitis also experience a rapid progression of symptoms.

The pons and medulla, also located within the brainstem,

are the respiratory centers

The reticular activating system (RAS), which is located within the brainstem, controls a person's

controls a person's state of awareness and level of consciousness. Coma following severe head injury indicates brainstem involvement and injury to the RAS

Subdural hemorrhages are usually venous in nature; signs and symptoms may not present for

for up to 24 hours or longer.

The cerebellum,

located inferoposterior to the cerebrum, regulates coordination, balance, and equilibrium.

The cerebrum

the largest part of the brain, controls thought processes and memory