Ch. 18 Neurologic Emergencies Flashcards
Altered mental status
Any deviation from alert and oriented to person, place, time, and event, or any deviation from a patient’s normal baseline mental status.
Aneurysm
A swelling or enlargement of a part of an artery, resulting from weakening of the arteerial wall.
Aphasia
The inability to understand and/or produce speech.
Atherosclerosis
A disorder in which cholesterol and calcium build up inside the walls of blood vessels, eventually leading to partial or complete blockage of blood flow.
Aura
A sensation experienced before a seizure; serves as a warning sign that a seizure is about to occur.
Cerebrovascular accident
An interruption of blood flow to the brain that results in the loss of brain function; also called a stroke.
Coma
A state of profound unconsciousness from which the patient cannot be roused.
Delirium
A temporary change in mental status characterized by disorganized thoughts, inattention, memory loss, disorientation, striking changes in personality and affect, hallucinations, delusions, or a decreased level of consciousness.
Dysarthria
Slurred speech.
Embolus
A blood clot or other substance in the circulatory system that travels to a blood vessel wheere it causes a blockage of blood flow.
Epilepsy
A disorder in which abnormal electical dischafges occur in the brain, cuasing seizures and possible loss of consciousness.
Febrile seizures
Seizures that result from sudden high fevers; most often seen in children
Focal seizure
A seizure affecting a limited portion of the brain.
Generalized seizure
A seizure charachterized by severe twitching of all the body’s muscles that may last several minutes or more; formerly known as a grand mal sezure.
Hemiparesis
Weakness on on e side of the body.
Hemorrhagic stroke
A type of stroke that occurs as a result of bleeding inside the brain.
Hyperglycemia
An abnormally high blood glucose level.
Hypoglycemia
An abnormally low blood glucose level.
Incontinence
Loss of bowel and/or bladder control; may be a result of a generalized seizure.
Ischemia
A lack of oxygen that deprives tissues of necessary nutrients, resulting from partial or complete blockage of blood flow; potentially reversible because permantent injury has not yet occured.
Ischemic stroke
A type of stroke that occurs when blood flow to a particular part of the brain is cut off by a blockage (eg , a blood clot) inside a blood vessel.
Postictal state
The period following a seizure that lasts 5 to 30 minutes; characterized by labored respirations and some degree of altered mental status.
Seizure
A neurologic episode caused by a surge of electical activity in the brain; can be a convulsion characterized by generalized, uncoordinated muscular activity, and cam be assosciated with loss of consciousness.
Status epilepticus
A condition in which seizures recur every few minutes or last longer than 30 minutes.
Stroke
An interruption of blood flow to the brain that results in the loss of brain function; also called a cerebrovascular accident (CVA).
Syncope
A fainting spell or transient loss of consciousness.
Thrombosis
A blood clot, either in the arterial or venous system. When the clot occurs in a cerebral artery, it may result in the interruption of cerebral blood flow and subsequent stroke.
Transient ischemic attack (TIA)
A disorder of the brain in chich brain cells trmporarily stop functioning because of insufficient oxygen, causing strokelike symptoms that resolve completely withing 24 hours of onset.
