Neuropath Exam Flashcards
(40 cards)
Where is the amygdala?



Define Neurodegenerative Disease
Neurodegenerative diseases: progressive, irreversible
conditions that lead to neuronal loss – often caused by intra or
extracellular accumulation of a misfolded protein; usually
sporadic (less than 10% genetic); lead to dementia
Define Neuroinflammatory Disease
Neuroinflammatory diseases: conditions characterised by an
innate and/or adaptive inflammatory response – they can be
reversible or progressive / irreversible (multiple sclerosis is the
paradigm)
What is this and define it

Micrograph showing characteristic whorls (psammomas bodies sometimes inside).
Has NOT invaded the brain
- Meningioma
* A tumor originating from the meninges, the membranous layers surrounding the CNS. Meningiomas are the second most common primary neoplasm of the central nervous system, arising from the arachnoid “cap” cells of the arachnoid villi in the meninges. These tumors are usually benign in nature; however, they can be malignant.*
Meningiomas are usually rounded masses with well-defined dural bases that compress underlying brain but are easily separated from it.
They are most frequently attached to the dura over the superior parasagittal surface of frontal and parietal lobes, along the sphenoid ridge, in the olfactory grooves, the sylvian region, superior cerebellum along the falx cerebri, cerebellopontine angle, and the spinal cord. The tumor is usually gray, well-circumscribed, and takes on the form of space it occupies. They are usually dome-shaped, with the base lying on the dura.

What are the most common causes and treatment of Brain metastesis?
- Most common causes are lung cancer 48%, breast 15%, genitourinary tract 11%, osteosarcoma 10% and melanoma 9%. Head and neck cancers cause only 6%*
- Treatment is primarily palliative, aiming to reduce symptoms. Some patients can have aggressive therapy such as craniotomy with maximal excision, chemo, and radiosurgical intervention (gamma knife radiosurgery)*
What does this show?

3 metasteses in the cortex
Intraparenchymal metastases form sharply demarcated masses, often at the junction of gray and white matter, usually surrounded by a zone of edema. The boundary between tumour and brain parenchyma is well defined microscopically as well, although melanoma is one tumour that does not always follow this rule. Nodules of tumour, often with central areas of necrosis, are surrounded by reactive gliosis.
What is the septum pellucidum?

- Not to be confused with the medial septum, the SP is a thin, triangular, vertical membrane separating the anterior horns of the left and right lateral ventricles of the brain. It runs as a sheet from the corpus callosum down to the fornix.*
- Diffuse Axonal Injury*
- Rapid acceleration not contact
- Damage to white matter tracts
- Different density

Why are midline structures particularly susceptible to trauma?
Rigid and at the centre resulting in shearing or tearing force generated by rotational trauma as the two hemispheres shift move separately to one another.
What are the common sites for Berry aneuryms?

What are the different types of herniation?

What happens in uncle herniation?
Midline deviation, ridge on the uncus of the right temporal lobe indicates it’s herniated through the tentorial notch. Also the top of the right cerebellum has been squashed by the herniated lobe.
- What is the congenital abnormality in this brain?

- Agenesis of corpus callosum

- Can be partial or complete absence of the corpus callosum.*
- The fibres that would normally form the CC lie longitudinally (Probst Bundles)*
What is the pathology?

- Encephalocoele
Neural tube defect characterised by sac-like protrusions of the brain and the membranes that cover it through openings in the skull. The result is a groove down the midline of the upper part of the skull, or the area between the forehead and nose, or the back of the skull. When located in the back of the skull, encephaloceles are often associated with neurological problems
Originates from the occipital lobe
2 tissue types are involved, Scalp (connective) and neural tissue
















