McCance Chapter 18 Disorders of the CNS, PNS and NMJ

Borrelia burgdorferi

Bacterial spirochete that causes Lyme disease transmitted by ticks

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

"Degeneration upper and lower motor neurons in the cerebral cortex, brainstem, and spinal cord characterized by progressive muscle weakness leading to respiratory failure and death (2 to 5 years from symptom onset). Person has normal intellectual and sensory function until death

Arteriovenous malformation

Arteries feed directly into veins through a vascular tangle of vessels

Autonomic hyperreflexia (dysreflexia)

A syndrome resulting from afferent stimuli which causes intense sympathetic discharge originating with spinal cord injury above the major splanchnic outflow characterized by hypertension, bradycardia, sweating of the forehead, severe headache, and piloerection on distention of the bladder and rectum.

Cavernous angiomas

Sinusoidal collections of blood vessels without interspersed brain tissue

Cerebellar astrocytoma

Brain tumor of the right or left cerebellar hemisphere and cause symptoms on the same side as the tumor including head tilt, limb ataxia, and nystagmus.

Cerebral infarction

Area of the brain loses blood supply because of vascular occlusion

Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania

Cluster-type headache that occurs with more daily frequency (4 to 12/day) but with shorter duration (20-120 minutes)

Classic cerebral concussion

Diffuse brain injury with cerebral disconnection from the brainstem reticular activating system and is a phenomenon of physiologic, neurologic dysfunction without substantial anatomic disruption. Immediate loss of consciousness for less than 6 hours with retrograde and anterograde amnesia.

Cluster headache

Headache characterized by unilateral severe pain over the eye and forehead that lasts 30 minutes to 2 hours, several attacks per day can occur over a period of days followed by long periods of remission

Contrecoup

Brain injury resulting from the brain hitting the inside of the skull on the side opposite the site of blunt force trauma.

Contusion

Bruise produced by bleeding into the skin or underlying tissues from an insult that did not break the skin but did rupture blood vessels.

Coup

Brain injury that occurs on the same side of a blunt force to the head; it results from the rapid acceleration and then deceleration of the brain as it hits the inside of the skull. Injury directly below the point of impact.

Diffuse brain injury (diffuse axonal injury)

Injury to neuronal axons in many areas of the brain caused by stretching and shearing forces received during brain injury.

Embolic stroke

Stroke caused by blockage of cerebral vessels.

Encephalitis

Inflammation of the brain usually caused by a virus.

Ependymoma

Intracranial tumor that is most commonly found in children and typically arises from the inner lining of the fourth ventricle and the spinal canal.

Extradural Hematoma

Hemorrhaging usually from an artery most commonly associated with a skull fracture after a head injury

Extramedullary tumors

Tumor originating from tissues outside the spinal cord including the meninges, epidura tissue or vertebral structures

Fasciculation

Involuntary muscular twitching

Fusiform aneurysm (giant aneurysm)

Large aneurysm that stretches to affect the entire circumference of the arterial wall.

Guillain-Barré syndrome

Acute, inflammatory, autoimmune disease triggered by a preceding bacterial or viral infection that causes demyelination of neurons resulting in denervation and atrophy of muscle with numbness, pain, parasthesis or weakness

Hemorrhagic stroke (intracranial hemorrhage)

Hypertension or ruptured aneurysms that result in bleeding in the brain, typically increases intracranial pressure and may lead to death.

Intramedullary tumors

Tumor originating within neural tissue

Lacunar stroke

Strokes caused by the occlusion (microinfarct) of a small branch of a larger blood vessel associated with smoking, diabetes and hypertension

Lyme disease

Tick-borne spirochete bacterial (Borrelia burgdorferi) infection that is characterized by a rash in the area of the bite, headache, neck stiffness, chills, fever, myalgia, arthralgia, malaise, fatigue, and possible development of arthritis in large joints.

Meningioma

A slow-growing, often encapsulated mass of cells derived from arachnoid tissue in the dural membrane that is usually benign but increases intracranial pressure.

Meningitis

Inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord associated with an infection from bacteria, viruses, parasites or toxins

Metastasis

Spread of cancer to other parts of the body

Migraine

Headache that usually begins in the temporal region unilaterally after vascular changes of cranial arteries and may cause irritability, nausea, vomiting, constipation or diarrhea, and photophobia.

Mild concussion

Temporary axonal disturbances without the loss of consciousness in response to a violent blow, jarring, shaking, or other closed head injury.

Multiple sclerosis

Chronic, autoimmune, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that causes inflammation, axonal degeneration and scarring of myelin sheaths.

Myasthenia gravis

Neuromuscular disorder caused by an autoimmune response in which antibodies to acetylcholine receptors impair neuromuscular transmission.

Mycotic aneurysm

Aneurysm that is caused by bacterial or fungal growth in the vessel wall or infection of a arteriosclerotic aneurysm.

Myelopathy

Degeneration of the spinal cord

Neurofibroma or schwannoma

Benign nerve sheath tumor in the peripheral nervous system

Neurogenic shock

Sudden loss of the sympathetic nervous system signals to the smooth muscle in vessel walls, causing vasodilation, hypotension, bradycardia and hypothermia

Neuropathy

Degeneration of the nervous system

Capillary telangiectasis

Dilated capillaries with interspersed brain tissue deep in the brain

Oligodendroglioma

Benign nerve sheath tumor in the central nervous system

Radiculitis

Inflammation of a spinal nerve root

Saccular aneurysm (berry aneurysm)

A slowly progressinganeurysm that affects only a portion of the circumference of the arterial wall and may be the result of congenital anomalies or degeneration.

Spinal shock

A complete loss of reflex function in skeletal muscles, bladder, bowel, sexual function and automic control below the level of the lesion

Stenosis

Narrowing or stricture of a passage or vessel

Spondylolisthesis

Stress factor allowing the vertebra to slide forward I relation to the vertebra below

Spondylolysis

Degenerative process of the vertebral column and associated soft tissue

Subdural hematoma

Collection of blood between the inner surface of the dura mater and the surface of the brain caused by rupture of veins

Tension headache

Headache caused by emotional strain or overwork that tends to be focused in the occipital region and can be continuous for months.

Thrombotic stroke (cerebral thrombosis)

Arterial occlusions in vessels supplying the brain or intracranial vessels caused by atherosclerosis or inflammation.

Transient ischemic attack

Brief episode of neurologic dysfunction, symptoms typically last less than 1 hour, no evidence of infarction

Venous angioma

Primitive embryologic veins in a radial pattern feeidng a central vein