Clinical stuff Flashcards
What are the 5 causes of blackouts?
- No blood
- Blood no good
- Brainstem
- Cerebral
- Psychological
What are the causes of “no blood” black outs?
Vasovagal syncope
Postural Hypotension
Hyperventilation
Cardiac Dysrhythmia
What are the causes of “blood no good” blackouts?
Hypoxia
Hypoglycaemia
What is Vasovagal Syncope?
Fainting
What causes Vasovagal snycope?
Vagal activity increaces will symapthetic activity decreses
As a result the heart slows and blood pools in the peripheries.
Cardiac output decreases resulting in inadequate perfusion to the brain.
The patient then collapses, venous return improves and cardiac output goes back to normal
What is postural hypotension?
Patient feels dizzy upon standing, blacks out and collapses
Why does postural hypotension occour?
Decreased symapthetic activity affecting the heart and peripheral circulation
Normal cardio-acceleration and peripheral vasoconstriction in response to standing does not occour.
Cardiac output is no sufficiant resulting in loss of consciousness
What is usually the cause of postural hypotension?
Decreased sympathetic activity due to anti-hypertensive drugs
occasionally due to a physical lesion of the sympathetic pathways
What kind of person experiances postural hypotension
middle aged or elderly
Parkinson’s disease
Peripheral neuropathy
What happens during hyperventilation?
Patients overbeath and wash out CO2 from their blood.
Arterial hypocapnia is a potent cerebral vasocontrictive stimulus.
Inadequate perfusion to the brain resulting in loss of consciousness
How can you prevent hyperventialtion?
Rebreathing into a paper bag.
Stops hypocapnia as you are rebreathing air which has more CO2 in it
What signs and symptoms are suggestive of cardiac dysrhytmia being the cause of blackouts?
- Older patient
- attacks unrelated to posture
- Hx of Ischaemic heart disease
- Palpatations
- Dizziness and colour change prior to collapse
What are Vertebro-basilar transient iscaemic attacks?
Thrombo-embolic material from the heart of proximal large arteries occlude arteries supllying the brainstem.
Cause ischemia of the brainstem tissue untill they are dislodged
what are the symptoms of Vertebro-basilar transient ischaemic attack?
Lasting about 8 minutes
Vertigo
Visual field defects (diplopia, hemianopia)
Auditory phenomena (sudden sensorineural hearing loss)
Facial numbness or paresthesias
Dysphagia, dysarthria, hoarseness
Syncope (drop attacks)
Hemisensory extremity symptoms (eg, contralateral to facial component
What factors make Vertebro-basilar transient ischaemic attacks more likely in a patient?
Older patient
know arteriopathic history
Presence of a source of emboli - MI, atrial fibrilation, neck bruits etc
What is a “hysterical attack”
Some patients attract attention to themselves, at a conscious or unconscious level by having blackouts.
Attacks consist of apparent loss of conciousness with falling and sometimes simulated convulsive movements.
What is narcolepsy?
episodes of sleep of unatural duration and stength occouring at unsual times.
Sufferers may also experiance
- Cataplexy
- Sleep paralysis
- Hypnogogic Hallucintions
What is transient global amensia?
For a few hours the patient acts normally but afterwards they cant remember anything that happened
usually ony happens a couple times in a patients life
What are the layers of the meinges?
Dura mater
Arachnoid mater
Pia mater
What causes Viral Meningitis?
Enteroviruses like ECHO virus
How do you diagnose viral meningitis?
Viral stool culture
Throat swab
CSF PCR
How do you treat viral meningitis?
Supportive - Self limiting
What is the most common cause of community aquired bacterial meningitis in children?
H. influenza
What is the most common cause of community acquired bacterial meningitis in ages 10-21?
Neisseria meningitidis
What is the most common cause of community acquired bacterial meningitis in adults
streptococcus pneumoniae
What is a major risk factor for streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis?
Fracture of the cribiform plate
What type of meningitis does “ decreased cell mediated immunity” increase the risk for?
Listeria monocytogenes
What type of meningitis does head trauma or neurosurgery put you at higher risk off?
S. aureus
S. epidermidis
What type of meningitis does a basilar skull fracture put you at higher risk of?
S.pneumoniae
H. influenzae
beta-hemolytic strep group A
What causes meningococcal meningitis?
Neisseria meningitis
How does Neisseria meningitis cause symptoms?
Endotoxins
Who gets memingococcal meningitis?
Young children
What is characterisitic of Tuberculous Meningitis?
Reactivaion:- Elderly
Previous TB on CXR
Non specific ill health
How do you treat Tuberculous Meningitis?
Isoniazid + rifampicin
What is cryptococcal meningitis?
Fungal meningitis presenting mainly in HIV disease
What is Chorea?
Fragments of movements flowing irregulary from one body segment to the next
What is ballismus?
Extreme chorea
What are the two broad subtypes of parkinson’s disease?
Tremor dominant Parkinson’s Disease
Non-tremor dominant Parkinson’s Disease
What sub type of parkinsons disease is associated with a slower rate of progression and less functional disability
Tremor-dominant subtype
What are the non-motor features of parkinson’s disease?
Olfactory dysfunction
cognitive impairment
psychiatric symptoms
sleep disorders
autonomic dysfunction
pain
fatigue
What is the classic disease progression of parkinson’s disease?
Diagnosed made with motor symptoms but non motor symptoms have been around for a while
Initally motor features are well controlled
at 17 years 80% report gait freezing and falls while 50% report choking
At 20 years 83% have dementia
What does the disease progression graph look like for Parkinson’s disease
What are the pathological hall marks of parkinsons disease?
Loss of dopaminergic neurons within the substania nigra and lewy body pathology
What are Lewy bodies?
Build ups of insoluble misfolded alpha-synuclien
Does having parents with parkinson disease increase your risk of parkinson’s disease?
Yes
What mutations are the most common causes of parkinsons disesae?
LRRK2
Parkin
What is the most common cause of meningitis in children under the age of 4 ?
H. influenzae
How do you treat parkinson’s disease ?
Increase dopamine in the brain
What are the adverse side affects of dopamine treatment in parkinsons?
Impulse control disorders made worse
Hallucinations - Carefull in the elderly
Nausea
Oedema
Daytime somnolence
What are the long term complications of dopaminergic therapy in parkinson’s disease?
Motor flucations:- on time/off time
Dyskinesia and chorea (corrolates with levodopa conc)
Hallucinations
What are the motor symptoms of parkinsonisim?
Bradykinesia
Rest tremor
Rigidity
Postural and gait impariment
What is typical with Vascular Parkinsonism?
Predominantly affects lower limbs
Poor levodopa response
Resting tremor uncommon
What is Duchenne muscular dystrophy?
X linked genetic disease resulting in progressive muscle weakness
What is huntington disease?
Progressive neurodegenerative disorder
onsent between 30-50 yrs
How is huntington disease inherited ?
Autosomal Dominant
What is the most common cause of dementia?
Alzheimer’s disease (50-70%)
What are the 5 things measured in the cerebral spinal fluid when ivestigating meningitis?
WBC count
Neutrophils
Protein
Glucose
What would you expect the WBC count to be in the CSF during bacterial meningitis?
WBC count >2000
What would you expect the neutophil count to be in the CSF of expected bacterial meningitis?
Neutrophils >1180
What would you expect of the protein content in the CSF of expected bacterial meningitis?
Protein >220 mg/dl
What would you expect the glucose level to be in the CSF of expected bacterial meningitis?
Glucose <34mg/dl
What CSF findings are 99% perdictive of bacerial meningitis?
WBC >2000
Neutrophils >1180
Protein >220mg/dl
Glucose <34 mg/dl
What should you do when a patient is addmitted to hospital with acute adult bacterial meningitis
- Take blood for culture and coagulation screen
- Take throat swab
- Swab any skin lesions
- Start “intial therapy before pathogens are identified” treatment
What types of patients which acute adult bacterial meningitis need a CT prior to lumbar puncture?
- Immunocompromised patients
- History of CNS disease
- New onset of seizure
- Papilloedema
- Abnormal levels of consciousness
- Focal neurological deficit
*
- Focal neurological deficit
What is the empiracal antibiotic for acute adult bacterial meningitis?
IV ceftriaxone 2g bd
if listeria is suspected add
Amoxicillin 2g qds
What is the empiric antibiotic for acute adult bacterial meningitis for someone with a penicillin allergy?
Chloramphenicol IV 25 mg/kg every 6hrs
plus
Vancomycin IV 500 mg every 6 hours
Whats the deal with steriods and bacterial meningitis?
Give to all patients suspected of bacterial meningitis before or with the first dose of antibiotics and then every 6 hours
When are the only times you wouldnt give steriods in adult acute baterial meningitis ?
- Post surgical meningitis
- Severe immunocompromise
- septic shock
What must you remeber to do when you have a paient with meningitis?
Call Public Health
Explain the concept of Cerebral Perfusion Pressre?
Cerebral perfusion pressure = mean arterial pressure — intracranial pressure
What are the ideal CPP = MAP — ICP pressures that you want to keep
Cerebral perfussion pressure = Mean arterial pressure — Intracranial pressure
>60mmHg = >80mmHg — < 20mmHg
What is normal adult Intercrainial Pressure?
9-11mmHg
How can you spot an anteior cranial fossa fracture?
Panda eyes
How can you spot a middle crania fossa fracture?
“battle sign”
What kills patients with head injuries?
Hypoxia
Hypotension
Raised Intracranial Pressure
When should you request a CT scan of the head in patients with head trauma?
Any patient with :
- Skull fracture
- GCS <15
- Focal neurological signs
- Taking anti-coagulants
What are the types of traumatic intracranial bleeding from outside to inside?
Extradural haematoma
Subural haematoma
Traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage
Intracerebral contusion
Intracerebral haematoma
Intraventricular haemorrhage
Why is sedation useful in the management of head injuries?
Reduces cerebral metabolic rate
Reduces cerebral blood flow
Reduces ICP
What is the most common cause of spontaneous subarachnoid haemorrhage?
Ruptured aneursym
What is a saccular aneurysms?
True aneurysms with involvement of all layers of the vessle
What is classic in Lower motor neurone disorders?
- Weak
- Low tone
- Fasiculations
What causes botulism?
Clostridium botulinum - PWID
How does botulinum toxin work?
Cleaves presynaptic protiens involved in vesicle formation and block vesicle docking
What is Lambert Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome?
Antibodies to presynaptic calcium channels leading to less vesicle release.
What is strongly associated with Lambert Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome?
Small cell carcinoma
What is the most common disorder of the neuromuscular junction?
Myasthenia Gravis
What is Myasthenia Gravis?
Autoimmune antibodies to acetyl choline receptors
Reduced number of functioning receptors leads to muscle weakness and fatiguability
When do you first start to experiance symptoms in myasthenia gravis?
When ACh receptors are reduced to 30% of normal
When are the two peaks of indcidence in myasthenia gravis?
Females: 30 - 40
Males: 60 - 80
What are the common clincial features of myasthenia gravis?
Weakness typically fluctuating
Extraocular weakness, facial and bulbar weakness
proximal limb weakness
How do you treat myasthenia gravis?
Immunomodulating
Steriods/azathioprine
emergency treatment wih plasma exchange or immunoglobulin
How does myasthenia gravis cause death?
Respiratory failure (diaphram)
and
Aspiration pneumonia
What are fasiculations?
Visible, fast, fine and spontaneous muscle twitch
What is myotonia?
Failure of muscle channel relaxation after use
What does myalgia mean?
Muscle weakness
What cause myotonia?
Problem with the cholride channel
What is Rhabdomyolysis?
“Dissolution of muscle”
Damage to skeletal muscle causes leakage of large quantities of toxic intracellular contents into the plasma
What is multiple sclerosis?
An inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system
When do people with multiple sclerosis usually present?
30s and 40s
What are the 6 clincial features of Multiple Sclerosis?
Pyramidal dysfunction
Optic neuritis
Sensory Symptoms
Lr Urinary tract dysfunction
Cerebellar and brain stem features
Cognitive impairment
What does pyramidal dysfunction in MS cause?
Increased tone
Spasticity
Weakness
Extensors of upper limbs
Flexors of lower limbs