Neurology Flashcards
What investigation should be urgently ordered in suspected sub-arachnoid haemorrhage?
Plain CT brain
What are the features of a headache associated with raised ICP?
- Diffuse headache of variable severity
- Often progressive
- Nausea ++
- Worse with increases in ICP (cough, straining, morning)
- Papilloedema (peripheral vision loss)
- Diplopia (6th cranial nerve palsy)
What is Todd’s paresis?
A focal weakness in a part of the body after a seizure
Besides with headache, how many a subarachnoid haemorrhage present?
- Reduced conscious state
- Coma
- Meningism
- Focal neurological signs
What are the main causes of sub-arachnoid haemorrhage?
- Ruptured cerebral aneurysm (70%)
- Ruptured AV malformation (10%)
- Undiscovered (15%)
If a CT is negative in suspected SAH, what test would you do next?
Lumbar puncture - looking for blood in the CSF that does not clear on 3 consecutive tubes
What is xanthochromia?
Yellow staining of the CSF due to breakdown of haemoglobin that occurs 6-8 hours after the SAH
What are the 2 management priorities in SAH?
- Monitor & treat the symptoms & complications of SAH
- Prevent re-bleeding
What investigations can be used to find the source of the bleed in a sub-arachnoid haemorrhage?
- CT angiogram
- MR angiogram
- Digital subtraction angiography
What are the options for treatment of an aneurysm?
- Surgical clipping of the aneurysm neck
- Endovascular coiling
What is normal intracranial pressure?
10-15mmHg
What are the signs of transtentorial herniation?
- Unilateral dilated pupil (3rd nerve palsy)
- Contralateral hemiparesis (midbrain)
- Hypertension/bradycardia (Cushing response)
- Respiratory failure
What is the treatment of raised ICP?
- Elevate head of bed
- Diuresis (mannitol)
- Hyperventilate/avoid hypoventilation
- Sedate/paralyse
- Remove mass
- Drain hydrocephalus
What is a seizure?
Abnormal, hypersynchronous neural activity
What is an ictus?
A sudden neurological event
What is epilepsy?
The tendency to repeated, spontaneous seizures
What are the 3 main generalised seizure types?
- Generalised tonic-clonic
- Absence
- Myoclonic
What are the features of a generalised tonic-clonic seizure?
- Tonic phase: arms down, eyes open, ictal cry
- Clonic phase: initially low amplitude & high frequency, progressing to high amplitude but low frequency movements
- Apnoea may occur
- Generally last 1-5 minutes
- Minor injury is common (tongue biting)
- Aftergoing confusion
What are the features of an absence seizure?
- Alteration of consciousness only
- No loss of postural tone
- No warning
- Facial twitching might occur
- Last 2-10 seconds
- Present almost exclusively in children or teenagers
What are the features of a myoclonic seizure?
- Sudden, involuntary muscle twitch
- Appear as a prodrome to GTCS