Neuro - pathology Flashcards
What does myel- refer to?
Spinal cord
What doe polio- refer to?
Grey matter
What does leuko- refer to?
White matter
What does radiculo- refer to?
Spinal nerve roots
What does malacia mean?
Area of softening due to necrosis
What is the name of the myelinating cells of the CNS?
Oligodendrocytes
What are the gaps between the schwann cells?
Nodes of ranvier
What are the 3 main features to note about neurones?
High energy demand for O2 and glucose - lots of active transport
Limited energy reserve capacity
Lost neurones are not replaced
What are the two morphological changes of the neuronal cell body to injury?
Chromatolysis
Neuronal necrosis
What are the two morphological changes of axons to cell injury?
Axonal degeneration (wallerian degeneration)
Axonal regeneration
What is chromatolysis? What are its characteristics?
Degenerative change of the neuronal cell body, characterised by:
Swollen cell body
Dispersion/loss of Nissl substance
Nucleus displaced peripherally
What are the two consequences of chromatolysis?
May be reversible
May progress to cell death
What is neuronal necrosis? What are its characteristics?
Cell body change following irreversible injury
Deeply eosinophilic
Condensed nucleus (pyknosis)
Shrunken/swollen
Angular cytoplasm
What are the consequences of neuronal necrosis?
Death of cell body results in degeneration of the axon
Necrotic neurones are cleared by phagocytes
What is axonal/Wallerian degeneration?
Axon injury from traumatic cut or compression
Axon degenerates back to the next node of Ranvier proximal to injury site and distal to injury site
Cell body undergoes chromatolysis
What is the time course of axonal/Wallerian degeneration?
Hours - axonal swellings
Days - fragmentation of axon/myelin
Weeks/months (PNS) to months/years (CNS) - axonal and myelin debris removed by phagocytes within digestion chambers
What does axonal regeneration require?
Being in the PNS (doesnt happen in CNS)
Requires the cell body to be intact
Requires integrity of the endoneurial tube distal to the site of injury
What grow during axonal regeneration?
Schwann cells form columns in endoneurial tube
Axonal sprouts grow along endoneurial tube and is remyelinated
What are the 3 outcomes of axonal regeneration?
1 - Restored function
2 - Axon regeneration without restored function
3 - Unsuccessful regeneration and neuronal atrophy
What causes axonal regeneration without restored function?
Endoneurial tubes misaligned
What can cause unsuccessful axonal regeneration and neuronal atrophy?
Fibrosis blocking axonal stump
Loss of integrity of endoneurial tube
Why is there no/very limited axonal regeneration in the CNS?
Lack of scaffold - no endoneurium for sprouts to follow
Oligodendrocytes dont form columns like the schwann cells do
Axonal sprouting inhibited
What inflammatory infiltrate do bacterial and fungal infections cause?
Suppurative - neutrophils
What inflammatory infiltrate do viral infections cause?
Non-suppurative - lymphocytes, plasma cells, macrophages
What is granulomatous inflammatory infiltrate made up of?
macrophages
What inflammatory infiltrate do protozoal and helminth infections cause?
Eosinophilic
What is perivascular cuffing?
During inflammation around the CNS, inflammatory cells are concentrated around the blood vessels
What are the macrophage equivalent in the CNS?
Microglia - resident phagocytes
What are the large foamy blood derived macrophages in the CNS called?
Gitter cells
What cells are the main cells involved in repair of the CNS?
Astrocytes - can form a scar
(microglia also help heal)
Where are fibroblasts only present in the CNS?
In the meninges
What are the 3 causes of brain swelling?
Space occupying lesions
Congestive brain swelling
Brain oedema
What are the 3 main mechanisms of brain oedema?
Vasogenic oedema
Interstitial oedema
Cytotoxic oedema
What is vasogenic oedema? What can cause it?
Blood brain barrier disruption causes fluid to move from vasculature into neuroparenchyma
Secondary to inflammation, infarction, trauma
What is interstitial oedema? What can cause it?
Increased ventricular cerebrospinal fluid pressure forces CSF into the parenchyma
Associated with hydrocephalus
What is cytotoxic oedema? What can cause it?
Cellular swelling due to disturbed cellular fluid homeostasis
Toxic or metabolic disease
What is coning of the cerebellar vermis?
When the cerebellum herniates through the foramen magnus of the cranium
What does the occipital cortex herniate through?
Tentorium cerebelli