Neurological Disorders Flashcards
Blunt Brain trauma
Closed
Head strikes hard surface or a rapid moving object strikes the head.
Dura mater is intact and brain tissue is not exposed.
What kind of brain injury can Blunt trauma cause?
Focal (local) or diffuse (general) brain injuries.
Open Brain Trauma
Penetrating
injury breaks the dura and exposes the cranial contents to the environment.
what kind of injury does open trauma cause?
Causes primarily focal injuries.
What are types of injury caused by Bunt Trauma?
Coup injury and Contrecoup
Coup Injury
Injury directly at the point of impact
Contrecoup
Injury on the polar opposite of the site of impact
Focal Brain Injury
Observable brain lesion force of impact typically produces contusion -extradural hematoma -subdural hematoma -Intracerebral hematomas
What are different types of concussions?
Mild and classical
Mild concussion
temporary axonal disturbance causing attention and memory deficits but NO loss of consciousness
Type I mild concussion
confusion
disorientation
memory amnesia
Type II Mild concussion
momentary confusion
retrograde amnesia of prior minutes
Type III Mild concussion
confusion with retrograde (greater than a few minutes) and anterograde amnesia
Classic concussion
Grade IV
loss of consciousness (for more than 6 hrs)
physiological and neurologic dysfunction without substantial anatomic disruption
anterograde and retrograde amnesia
What causes the loss of consciousness in grade IV concussions?
Disconnection of cerebral systems from the brain stem and reticular activating system
Your friend takes a huge hit as he is running for the goal line playing “flag football”. He is slow to get up and unsteady on his feet. He goes over to the sidelines and can’t remember what day of the week it is. The next day, he still can’t remember what happened for several hours before or after the game. How severe was the concussion he just experienced?
Grade III
cerebrovascular Disorders
Any Abnormalities of he brain caused by a pathologic process in the blood vessels
Cerebral Infarction
loss of blood flow to brain area
Cerebral Hemorrhage
Bleeding within the brain
Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIA)
confusion
difficulty communicating
usually no long term dysfunction (<24hrs)
a warning sign of something more severe.
What are different types of cerebrovascular accidents?
Hemorrhagic Stroke
Thrombotic Stroke
Embolic Stroke
Hemorrhagic Stroke
intracranial/cerebral hemorrhage
from an aneurysm
most common cause is hypertension
Thrombotic Stroke
arterial occlusions caused by thrombi formed in arteries supplying the brain or in the intracranial vessels
embolic stroke
an thrombus formed outside the brain
What are examples of Intracranial Aneurysms?
Saccular (berry) Aneurysms
Fusiform (giant) aneurysms
Saccular (berry) aneurysms
Exacerbated (caused) by hypertension
increases risk of hemorrhage
the walls move out on one side of the vein, kinda like it’s gonna go through exocytosis
Fusiform (giant) Aneurysms
walls move out on both sides like when you blow up ling skinny balloons
Cavernous Angiomas
group of dilated blood vessels with no other brain tissue
these are not that dangerous because they rarely hemorrhage.
capillary telangiectasis
small abnormally dilated capillaries. These are not that dangerous because they rarely hemorrhage.
venous angioma
abnormal cluster of veins draining a region of brain tissue. These are not that dangerous because they rarely hemorrhage.
Arteriovenous malformation (AVM)
most lethal
arteries and veins in tangle of malformed vessels
“tangle of worms”
Cerebral edema
increase in the fluid (intracellular or extracellular) with the brain
What are different types of cerebral edema?
vasogenic cytotoxic ischemic interstitial Hyrdocephalus
Vasogenic edema
increased capillary permeability
cytotoxic edema
block active transport
problem transporting ions so you get water movement due to ion imbalances
ischemic Edema
follows cerebral infarction
increased capillary permeability
block active transport (ion imbalances)
water movement
interstitial edema
CSF moves across ependymal cells from ventricles to interstitial space
Hydrocephalus
type of interstitial cerebral edema
result of excess fluid within the cranial vault, subarachnoid space, or both.
What is hydrocephalus caused by?
an interference in CSF flow.
- decreased reabsorption
- increased fluid production
- obstruction within the ventricular system
snout reflex
lips purse whenever touched lightly
palmomental reflex
twitch of cheek when stroking the palm
cerebral death
irreversible coma
death of the cerebral hemispheres exclusive of the brainstem and cerebellum