Neurology Flashcards
Diagnosis
3-4 month old infant with:
- enlarged abdomen
- lactic acidosis
- hypoglycemia
- doll-like face (fat cheeks)
- thin extremities
- short stature
- hyperuricemia
- hyperlipidemia
Von-Gierkes’ disease (type I glycogen storage disease)
Caused by a glucose-6 phosphatase deficiency in the liver, kidney and intestinal mucosa. The enlarged abdomen is due to an enlarged kidney and liver. Hypoglycemia may result in seizures.
Treatment:
Narcolepsy
- Stimulants to reduce daytime somnolence (i.e. modafinil, armodafinil, methylphenidate, dextroamphetamine, methamphetamine)
- sodium oxybate to reduce cataplexy
- Sleep schedule
- Avoid alcohol and drugs that cause drowsiness
Excessive daytime sleepiness + cataplexy
Narcolepsy
Treatment:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Riluzole
MA: glutamate inhibitor
Riluzole does not arrest the underlying pathological process, but it does prolong (1) survival & (2) time to tracheotomy.
Side effects: dizziness, nausea, weight loss, elevated liver enzymes, skeletal weakness
Which drug(s) is/are associated with fetal hydantoin syndrome?
Phenytoin, carbemazepine & many other AEDs
Clinical Manifestation:
- small body size
- microcephaly
- hypoplasia of the distal phalanges of the fingers and toes
- nail hypoplasia
- excess hair (hirsutism)
- cleft palate
- rib anomalies
Diagnosis:
Your patient experiences loss of consciousness followed by a lucid interval after a fall. Upon arrival to the ER the patient slowly becomes confused and consciousness deteriorates again. Head CT shows a bioconvex hematoma.
Acute epidural hematoma
LOC –> lucid –> declining consciousness + bioconvex hematoma
Clinical Manifestation: may include an ipsilateral dilated pupil caused by CN III compression
Tx: Craniotomy if the patient has focal neurologic signs or risk for brain herniation/injury.
Clinical Manifestations:
Alcoholic cerebellar degeneration
- Gait instability
- Truncal ataxia
- Intention tremor
- Hypotonia –> pendulum like swing after stimulation of patellar tendon
- Difficulty with rapid alternating movements
How is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease differentiated from other types of dementia?
- CJD is rapidly progressive
- Prominent myoclonus
- 14-3-3 proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (characteristic but not required for diagnosis)
Diagnosis:
Electroencephalogram shows bi- or tri-phasic sharp wave complexes in a patient with rapidly progressive dementia
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Treatment:
Wernicke encephalopathy
Thiamine
Also, thiamine + glucose
Criteria necessary to diagnose a febrile seizure
- Age 6 months –> 6 years
- Temperature greater than or equal to 38 C (100.4 F)
- No previous history of afebrile seizures
- No CNS infection
- No acute systemic metabolic cause of seizures
Treatment:
Febrile seizure
- Abortive therapy if seizure lasts for 5 minutes or longer
2. Reassurance the prognosis for febrile seizures if very good, less than 5% of kids go one to develop epilepsy.
What are the characteristics of a high-grade astrocytoma in CT/MRI images?
- Heterogenous
2. Serpinginous
Clinical Manifestation:
CNS lesion affecting cortical innervation of the facial nucleus
Contralateral lower facial weakness with sparing of the forehead.
Facial weakness may manifests as: (1) loss of nasolabial folds, (2) drooping of the corner of the mouth, (3) loss of taste over the anterior 2/3 of the tongue (4) hyperacusis (5) decreased tearing.
Clinical Manifestation:
Facial nerve paralysis due to a lesion below the pons
(1) Decreased brow movements
(2) Inability to close the eye
(3) Eyelid drooping
(4) Loss of nasolabial fold
(5) Mouth drooping
(6) Decreased tearing
(7) Decreased taste over the anterior 2/3 of the tongue
(8) Hyperacusis
Which type of dementia is associated with early, mild memory loss and stepwise decline in executive dysfunction?
Vascular dementia
Vascular dementia may also be associated with findings of cerebral infarction and deep white matter changes on CT/MRI.
- Alzheimer dementia –> Early memory loss, late personality changes, spatial disorientation
- Frontotemporal dementia –> Early personality change (apathy, disinhibition, compulsions), frontotemporal atrophy on imaging
- Lewy body dementia –> Visual hallucinations, spontaneous parkinsonism, fluctuating cognition
- Normal pressure hydrocephalus –> Early ataxia, urinary incontinence, dilated ventricles on imaging
- Prion Disease–> Rapidly progressive, myoclonus/seizures, behavioral changes
What enzyme is deficient in Lesch-Nyhan syndrome?
Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT)
This leads to a build up of uric acid resulting in: (1) self-mutilation (2) gout (3) mental retardation (4) dystonia (5) choreoathetosis (6) spasticity (7) gouty arthritis (8) tophus formation.
If you see a young child with gout, what enzyme deficiency should be on your differential?
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome
Deficiency of HPRT results in uric acid excess. Generally gout is seen in individuals above 50 years of age.
Diagnosis:
CSF results in a patient with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
- Oligoclonal bands (present in 85-90% of MS cases)
Normal pressure, total protein and cell count.
NOTE: Although the total protein is normal, there is a disporprotionate ammount of immunoglobulin G proteins. Also, IgG elevation is not diagnostic for MS. It can be elevated in (1) neuropathies (2) chronic CNS infections and (3) viral syndromes. The IgG test also has a 8% false positive rate.
Clinical Manifestation:
Transtentorial (uncal) herniation
Ipsilateral findings:
- Ptosis, strabisumus and mydriasis
- Hemiparesis
Controlateral findings:
3. Hemaniopsia (vision loss)
General findings:
4. altered mental status –> due to compression of the reticular formation
Localize the lesion:
Pt has (1) difficulty speaking (2) right sided weakness & (3) inability writing & inability to repeat commands
Dominant frontal lobe
The ability to speak and write language is controlled by the dominant (usually left hemisphere). The front lobe contains the primary motor cortex necessary to produce movement on the right side. Also, the supplementary motor cortex helps with motor function and results in apraxia if damaged.
How do you differentiate an acute demyelinating plaque of multiple sclerosis from a transient ischemic attack (TIA)?
MS flare lasts for days to weeks; TIA symptoms last <24 hours
Initial Treatment:
Transient ischemic attack (TIA)
- Modify risk factors
- Aspirin + Statin
- Improve blood pressure control
What lobe of the brain is most often affected in Herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis?
Temporal lobe
Suspect HSV encephalitis in patients presenting with new onset seizures.
What CSF findings do you suspect in a patient with HSV encephalitis?
- lymphocytic pleocytosis
- increased number or RBCs
- elevated protein
What is the gold standard for diagnosing HSV encephalitis?
HSV polymerase chain reaction analysis