Parsa Flashcards
What is the most important single cause of cerebrovascular disease?
Atherosclerosis
with or without superimposed thrombosis
What does a red neuron indicate?
early infarction in the brain
What are 90% of non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhages due to?
hypertension
What is the most common cause of a SAH?
rupture of a saccular (Berry) aneurysm
common at the bifurcation of the circle of Willis and happens with exertion (childbirth)
What is the causes of most abscess in the brain?
bacterial infections
What do low-grade astrocytomas normally show?
p53 proliferations and over expression of PDGF-A
well-differentiated diffuse astrocytoma:
slow growing and slowly progressive clinical signs –> similar in appearance to normal brain tissue
What are some features of a glioblastoma? What is the prognosis?
very poor prognosis
Histologically, the tumor shows high cellularity, numerous mitotic figures, pleomorphism of cells and their nuclei areas of necrosis, proliferation of blood vessels and their endothelium
Where are oligodendrogliomas normal found?
the cerebral hemisphere
What do pts with ependymoma often present with?
hydrocephalus because they can block the 4th ventricles (often found in the posterior fossa)
What is the degeneration of Pick Disease?
frontotemporal lobar degeneration
Pick bodies
large inclusions of neurofibullary tangles with tau proteins in this
What is the pathophysiology behind Friedreich’s ataxia?
decreased frataxin leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and increased oxidative damage
frataxin normally stores iron in the mitochondria. it is crucial to ATP formation
What is the pathophysiology behind the damage in ALS?
SOD (superoxide dismutase) mutations cause unfolded SOD to accumulate in the cell which can lead to the activation of caspase 1 and 3 which cause an increase in cytokines that damage neurons and apoptosis, respectively
What does the CSF of MS patients show?
- oligoclonal bands–> abnormal immunological activity (humoral immunity)
- myelin basic protein canals be seen during active breakdown of the myelin
What are the differences between the 2 types of encephalomyelitis?
- acute disseminated (ADEM):
- perivenous demyelination
- after viral infection or immunization in 1-2 wks
- headache, lethargy, coma - Acute necrotizing hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis (AHL):
- fulminant demyelination
- follows URI (mycoplasma)
- usually fatal
What causes Krabbe disease?
Deficiency of galactocerebroside -galactosidase →Accumulation of psychosin (galactosyl-sphingosine)→ microglial cells die
