Clinical Correlates Flashcards
What are the 2 types of paralysis?
- Flaccid paralysis
2. Spastic paralysis
What is Paralysis?
Loss of motor function
What is flaccid paralysis?
Severe damage to the ventral root or ventral root horn cells
- lower motor neurons are damaged & impulses don’t reach muscles
- there is no voluntary or involuntary control of muscles
What is spastic paralysis?
Damage to only the upper motor neurons.
- spinal neurons remain intact & muscles are stimulated irregularly by reflex activity.
- there is no voluntary control of muscles.
- often seen with CVA (contralateral side of body affected = hemiplegia)
What is a spinal cord injury & what are the 2 types?
A complete transaction of the spinal cord at any level results in total motor & sensory loss I. Regions inferior to the cut.
- Paraplegia
- Quadriplegia
What is paraplegia?
Transaction between T1-L1.
-affects trunk & lower extremities.
What is quadriplegia?
Transection in the cervical spine.
- affecting trunk & all extremities.
Damage to the dorsal columns causes what?
Sensory loss inferior to the level of damage.
What does damage to the ventral or lateral columns cause?
A combination of motor & sensory OSS inferior to the level of damage.
What is poliomyelitis?
Destruction if the ventral horn motor neurons by the poliovirus.
What are the early symptoms of poliomyelitis?
Fever, headache, muscle pain & weakness, loss of somatic reflexes.
What are the advanced symptoms of poliomyelitis?
Paralysis & muscle atrophy; recent surge in post-polio patients.
What is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)?
aka Lou Gehrig’s disease
- progressive destruction of ventral horn motor neurons & fibers of the pyramidal tract
What are the symptoms of ALS?
Progressive loss of the ability to speak, swallow & breathe.
- linked to malfunctioning genes for the glutamate transporter.
- death typically occurs within 5 years (due to co-morbidities)
What is spina bifida?
Incomplete closure of neural tube; no laminar or spinous process.
