Neurocognitive Health Flashcards
What are the two most important questions to ask when diagnosing neurological disease?
- where is the lesion? (location)
- what is the lesion? (diagnosis)
What are the different types of tests to investigate neurologic diseases? (6)
- medical imaging
- electrophysiological studies
- cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) studies
- Microscopy, light & electron microscopy
- molecular genetics and cytogenetics
- biochemical analysis
What are the three layers of the brain?
- dura
- arachnoid
- pia
What is the space between the brain and the skull?
Epidural space
What is the Frontal lobe responsible for?
Thinking, feelings, & motion, speech (motor component)
What is the Temporal Lobe Responsible for?
Hearing and memory (medial)
What is the Parietal Lobe responsible for?
Sensation, speech (sensory component)
What is the Occipital lobe responsible for?
Vision
What is the Brainstem responsible for?
Eye & facial movement, breathing & heartbeat
What is the Cerebellum responsible for?
Balance and coordination
What is the most common section (slice) used in neuropathology?
cornoal slice
What are the tissues that are unique to the CNS? (7)
- neurons
- astrocytes
- oligodendroglia
- ependyma
- microglia
- choroid plexus
- leptomeninges
What tissues are specifically Glia? (4)
- astrocytes
- oligodendroglia
- ependyma
- microglia
What tissues can be found in the rest of the body?
- connective tissue
- blood vessels
- phagocytes
What are Neurons?
- cells that initiate & transmit impulses
- points of connection = synapses
What are Astrocytes?
- scaffolding, insult nerve fibres
- responsible for growth and nutrition of neurons & maintaining environment of CNS including blood brain barrier
- repair of injuries
What are Oligodendrocytes?
Cells that maintain myelin and conduction velocity of nerve fibres
What are Microglia?
Cells that are responsible for defensive (immunologic) responses
What are the different CNS reactions to injuries and diseases? (8)
- Neuronal degeneration
- axonal degeneration
- glial reaction
- demyelination
- microglia
- vascular changes
- cerebral edema
- migration of systemic inflammatory cells to CNS
What is Neuronal degeneration?
Atrophy, damage or necrosis of the neurons
What is Axonal degeneration?
axonal swellings or loss
What is Glial reaction?
astrocytic hyperplasia, proliferation = astrocytosis/gliosis
What is Demyelination?
damage to myeline or oligodendrocytes
What occurs when there is an injury to the Microglia?
Proliferation
What is Vascular changes?
Vasculitis and vasospasm (ischemia), vasogenic edema (breakdown of blood brain barrier)
What is Cerebral Edema?
vasogenic or cytotoxic
What is Vasogenic Edema?
breakdown of BBB with accumulation in extracellular fluid
What is Cytotoxic Edema?
Intracellar swellings of neurons and glia
What is Migration of systemic inflammatory cells to CNS?
Neutrophils, lymphocytes, macrophages
What are the different Nervous System Disorders? (6)
- neoplastic
- infectious
- vascular
- Traumatic
- neurodegenerative
- demyelinating
What are the different CNS Tumours?
- Primary
- Secondary
What are Primary CNS Tumours?
Tumours that arise from neuroepithelial cells in the brain
What are Secondary CNS Tumours?
Tumours that originate outside the brain, the metastasize into the brain
What are the different Primary CNS Tumours?
- Intrinsic = Gliomas
- Extrinsic = Meningiomas, Schwannomas
What is needed to diagnose a Glioma?
3 tiered diagnosis
- histology
- molecular alterations
- WHO grade
What is the Incidence of Primary CNS tumours?
Adults: 11.3/100,000 person-year
Children: 2.3/100,000 person-year
What is the Incidence of Secondary CNS Tumours?
- difficult to assess prevalence
- Common
- perhaps 1 for every 2 primary tumours resected in london, ontario
What are the Primary tumours typically found in adults?
- Astrocytomas (including glioblastoma) and Oligodendrogliomas
> 90% supratentorial (upper part of the brain)
What are the Primary tumours typically found in children?
- Astrocytomas
- ependymomas
- medulloblastomas
- > 90% infratentorial (lower part of the brain)
If a tumour cell resembles Oligodendroglial cells, what is the classification?
Oligodendroglioma
If a tumour cell resembles Ependymal cells, what is the classification?
Ependymoma
If a tumour cell resembles Astrocytes cells, what is the classification?
Astrocytoma
What are the Histological Features that suggest a higher grade tumour and poor prognosis? (5)
- increasing cellularity
- mitoses
- nuclear pleomorphism
- endothelial proliferation
- necrosis
What is the IDH mutation?
- IDH1 R132H mutation most common
- early “initiating” mutation in LG gliomas
- indicates better prognosis
What is Chromosomal Alteration?
- indication of glioma
- 1p/19q Co-Del
What are Meningiomas? (4)
- derived from meninges
- dome shaped, based on dura
- middle to old age
- various histological patterns (psammoma body, ‘whorl’ characteristic)
How are Meningiomas cured?
Resection
What are Metastatic Tumours of the CNS?
- difficult to assess prevalence
- the most common CNS neoplasm in adults
- primary sites: lung, breast, melanoma, renal cell carcinoma and colorectal
Where are Metastatic Tumors of the CNS commonly located?
In the cerebral hemispheres at the gray- white mater junction; also seen cerebellum (15%) and brain stem (<5%)
What is Meningitis?
an inflammation (swelling) of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. A bacterial or viral infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord usually causes the swelling
What are the signs and symptoms of Meningitis? (7)
- fever
- neck stiffness
- headache
- confusion
- CSF cloudy
- inflammatory cells
- positive culture