Congenital CNS Pathology Flashcards
Factors involved in the development of CNS congenital disorders include:?
- Maternal and fetal infections
- Drugs
- Anoxia
- Ischemia
- Genetic
The most common developmental CNS abnormality is ?
Neural Tube defects
- results from defective closure of the neural tube
- occurs at the two ends of the nueroaxis
What deficiency is implicated in Neural tube defects ?
Folate deficiency
Anencephaly is the ?
Absence of cranial vault, incompatible with life
NTD affecting the spinal cord include ?
- Myelocele
- meningomyelocele
- Meningocele
- Spinal bifida occulta
Spinal bifida occulta is ?
A bony defect of the vertebral arch
Meningocele is ?
- Bony defect with the outpouching of the meninges.
- Protrusion of the meninges (filled with csf) through a defect in the skull or spine
Meningomyelocele is?
Defective formation of the bony arch with cystic outpouching of the meninges, spinal cord and spinal roots
Myelocele is?
Defective bony arch with complete exposure of the spinal cord
The most consistent defect in neural tube defects is ?
Defective formation of the bony arch
Complications of NTD?
Paraplegia and urinary incontinence from birth
Mention 2 posterior fossa anomalies ?
- Arnold-Chiari malformations (1& 2)
- Dandy-Walker malformation
Typical features of Type 1 Arnold chiari malformations ?
- Mostly asymptomatic
- Downward displacement of the cerebellar tonsils
- could involve syringomyelia
Typical features of type 2 Arnold chiari malformations
- Most often symptomatic
- Faulty cranio-spinal junction resulting in small posterior fossa
- there’s Downward displacement of the cerebellar vermis and tonsils
Complications of type 2 A.chiari malformation?
- Compression of the 4th ventricle
- compresses aqueduct and medulla
- Obstructive hydrocephalus
- Frequent lumbar meningomyelocele
The acronym TAS for type 1 Arnold chiari malformation represents what?
T - Tonsil herniation (cerebellar tonsils)
A - Asymptomatic
S - Syringomyelia
The acronym MAD for type 2 Arnold chiari malformation represents what?
M - Meningomyelocele (Lumbar)
A - Aqueductal and medulla compression
D - Dangerous symptoms (Hydrocephalus, paralysis)
The development of a fluid filled cavity within the spinal cord is called?
Syringomyelia
What can you remember about Syringomyelia ?
- Ependymal-lined, CSF filled channel that forms parallel to and connected with the central canal
- 90% of cases associated with Arnold-chiari type 1
- 10% post traumatic or intraspinal tumors
- Syrinx enlarged progressively and destroys the spinal parenchyma
- symptoms: paralysis and loss of sensory functions
Hydromyelia is?
- an abnormal widening of the central canal of the spinal cord.
- Dilation of the central canal
What part of the spine is most commonly affected by syringomyelia?
The cervical region
Mention 5 neural tube defects?
Meningomyelocele
Anencephaly
Spinal bifida occulta
Encephalocele
Myelocele
Meningocele
Forebrain anomalies include ?
- Microcephaly- Small head size
- Lissencephaly - Absence of convolutions (folds) in the cerebral cortex
- Agyria - Absence of gyri on the surface of the cerebral cortex (complete lissencephaly)
- Megalencephaly - a condition in which an infant or child has a large, heavy, and potentially malfunctioning brain.
Forebrain anomalies also include?
- Polymicrogyria - multiple small gyri (microgyri) creating excessive folding of the brain… CMV is a cause
- Neuronal heterotopias; brain malformations resulting from deficits of neuronal migration
- Holoprosencephaly; failure of the prosencephalon (the embryonic forebrain) to sufficiently divide into double lobes of cerebral hemispheres
- Agenesis of the corpus callosum
CNS traumas can result in three categories of injury namely?
- Skull fractures
- Parenchyma injury
- Vascular injury
Injury to the head may be ? And may cause ?
- Penetrating or blunt
- Open or closed injury
The magnitude, distribution and consequence of traumatic brain lesions depends on ?
- The shape of the object causing the injury
- The force of impact
- Whether the head is in motion at the time of injury
- Anatomical location of the lesion
- Limited capacity of the brain for functional repair
Injury of brain parenchyma may be silent in ? Severely disabling in? Or fatal in?
Silent - Frontal lobe injury
Severely disabling - spinal cord injury
Fatal - Brainstem injury
Trauma to the CNS (Cranium cranial cavity and brain) can cause ?
- Skull fracture
- Brain concussions
- Contusions
- Diffuse axonal injury
Trauma to the CNS (Blood vessel rupture) can cause
- Epidural hemorrhage
- Subdural hemorrhage
- Subarachnoid hemorrhage
- Intraparenchymal hemorrhage
Types of cerebral herniations that can result from CNS Trauma;
Subfalcian herniation (cingulate gyrus)
Transtentorial herniation (uncal)
Cerebellar tonsillar herniation
Most common cause of cerebral palsy is?
Perinatal brain injury
What is the germinal matrix?
A highly cellular and highly vascularized region in the brain out from which cells migrate during brain development.
What causes germinal matrix hemorrhage?
The blood vessels of the germinal matrix are weak walled and fragile and predisposed to hemorrhage.
Common is infants born before 32 weeks gestation
Periventricular leukomalacia?
PL is an injury to the white matter in the brain. White matter softens and dies around the lateral ventricles, leaving fluid-filled cysts.
PL is a white matter lesion in premature infants that results from hypotension, ischemia, and coagulation necrosis at the watershed zones of deep penetrating arteries of the middle cerebral artery.
Multi-cystic encephalopathy ?
- Occurs following prenatal or perinatal hypoxia-ischemia
- multiple brain infarcts occurring early in pregnancy
- varying sized cystic lesions in the brain encountered in developing fetuses or infants.
Cerebral palsy is defined as?
Non-progressive motor deficit related to prenatal and perinatal neurological insults
The major risk factor for cerebral palsy is ?
Prematurity