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nerves pathology
nervous system pathology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| amnesia | loss of memory caused by brain damage or severe emotional trauma |
| anomia | the inability to name everyday objects. A type of aphasia |
| aphasia | lack or impairment of the ability to form or understand speech. Less severe forms include dysphasia and dysarthria; dysarthria refers to difficulty in the articulation (pronunciation) of speech. |
| asthenia | weakness |
| ataxia | a condition of a lack or coordination |
| athetosis | continuous involuntary slow, writhing movement of the extremities |
| coma | deep, prolonged unconsciousness from which the patient cannot be aroused; usually the result of a head injury, neurological disease, acute hydrocephalus, intoxication, or metabolic abnormalities |
| convulsion | neuromuscular reaction to abnormal electrical activity within the brain. Causes include fever or epilepsy, a recurring seizure disorder; also called a "seizure" |
| dysphagia | condition of difficulty with swallowing |
| fasciculation | involuntary contraction of small local muscles |
| paresthesia | feeling of prickling, burning, or numbness |
| spasm | involuntary muscle contraction of sudden onset. Examples are hiccoughs, tics, and stuttering |
| syncope | Fainting. A "vasovagal attack" is a form of syncope that results from abrupt emotional stress involving the vagus nerve's effect on blood vessels |
| tremors | rhythmic, quivering, purposeless skeletal muscle movements seen in some elderly individuals and in patients with various neurodegenerative disorders |
| vertigo | dizziness; abnormal sensation of movement when there is none, either of oneself moving or of objects moving around oneself |
| concussion | serious head injury characterized by one or more of the following: loss of consciousness, amnesia, seizures, or a change in mental status |
| contusion, cerebral | head injury of sufficient force to bruise the brain. Bruising of the brain often involves the brain surface and causes extravasation of blood without rupture of the pia arachnoid; often associated with a concussion |
| hematoma | localized collection of blood, usually clotted, in an organ, tissue, or space, due to a break in the wall of a blood vessel. Epidural hematomas occur above the pia mater. Subdural hematomas occur between the dura mater and arachnoid meninges. |
| encephalitis | inflammation of the brain, most frequently caused by a virus transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito |
| meningitis | any infection or inflammation of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, most commonly due to viral infection, although more severe strains are bacterial or fungal |
| amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) | degenerative, fatal disease of the motor neurons, in which patients exhibit progressive muscle weakness and atrophy; also called "Lou Gehrig's disease". |
| Huntington's disease | inherited disorder that manifests itself in adulthood as a progressive loss of neural control, uncontrollable jerking movements, and dementia. Also called Huntington's chorea. |
| postpolio syndrome (PPS) | although "poliomyelitis" (an inflammation of the gray matter of the spinal cord) has been virtually eradicated, some patients who have had polio report symptoms of exhaustion and muscle and joint pain decades after their initial illness |
| Parkinson's disease (PD) | progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by tremors, fasciculations, slow shuffling gait, bradykinesia (slow movement), and dysphasia, and dysphagia. unknown cause |
| Alzheimer's Disease (AD) | progressive neurodegenerative disease in which patients exhibit an impairment of cognitive functioning. The cause of disease is unknown. Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia |
| mild cognitive impairment (MCI) | loss or impairment of cognitive abilities, although not as severe as AD. Also called "incipient dementia" |
| multiple sclerosis (MS) | Neurodegenerative disease characterized by destruction of the myelin sheaths on the CNS neurons (demyelination) and their abnormal replacement by the gradual accumulation of hardened plaques. progressive or may have remission/relapses, unknown cause. |
| dyssomnia | disorders of the sleep-wake cycles. Insomnia is the inability to sleep or stay asleep. Hypersomnia is excessive depth or length of sleep, which may be accompanied by daytime sleepiness |
| epilepsy | group of disorders characterized by some or all of the following: recurrent seizures, sensory disturbances, abnormal behavior, and/or loss of consciousness. Causes may be trauma, tumor, intoxication, chemical imbalance, or vascular disturbances |
| tonic clonic (grand mal) | type of seizure accompanied by loss of consciousness and severe muscle spasms |
| absence seizures (petit mal) | type of seizure accompanied by loss of consciousness exhibited by unresponsiveness for short periods without muscle involvement. |
| status epilepticus | a condition of intense, unrelenting, life-threatening seizures. |
| pseudoseizures | false seizures |
| migraine | headache of vascular origin. The onset may be preceded by an "aura", a sensation of light or warmth. Migraines are further classified as intractable (difficult to treat) and with/without "status migrainosus (lasting longer than 72 hours.) |
| narcolepsy | disorder characterized by sudden attacks of sleep. Cataplexy is a loss of muscle tone that results in collapse without loss of consciousness. |
| transient ischemic attack (TIA) | temporary ischemia of cerebral tissue sue to an occlusion (blockage) from a thrombus or embolus , or as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage. results depend on duration and location. Sequelae may include paralysis, weakness, speech defects |
| Bell's palsy | paralysis of the facial nerve. Unknown in cause, the condition usually resolves on its own within 6 months |
| carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) | compression injury that manifests itself as fluctuating pain, numbness, and paresthesias of the hand caused by compression of the median nerve at the wrist |
| causalgia | nerve pain, described by patients as a "burning pain" |
| meralgia paresthetica | condition of a burning, tingling sensation in the thigh caused by injury to one of the femoral nerves |
| trigeminal neuralgia | chronic facial pain that affects the fifth cranial nerve. Usually experienced on one side of the face. The pain is episodic and intense. Also known as "tic douloureux". |
| Guillain-Barre' syndrome | Autoimmune disorder of acute polyneuritis producing profound myasthenia that may lead to paralysis |
| polyneuropathy | a general term describing a disorder of several peripheral nerves |
| muscular dystrophy (MD) | group of disorders characterized as an inherited progressive atrophy of skeletal muscle without neural involvement |
| myasthenia gravis | usually severe condition characterized by fatigue and progressive muscle weakness, especially of the face and throat |
| Cerebral palsy (CP) | motor function disorder as a result of permanent, nonprogressive brain defect or lesion caused perinatally. Neural deficits may include paralysis, ataxia, athetosis, seizures, and/or impairment of sensory functions |
| diplegia | paralysis of the same body part on both sides of the body |
| hemiparesis | muscular weakness or slight paralysis on the left or right side of the body |
| hemiplegia | paralysis on the left or right side of the body |
| hydrocephalus | condition of abnormal accumulation of fluid in the ventricles of the brain. Usually diagnosed in babies; may also occur in adults as a result of stroke, trauma, or infection |
| locked-in state | damage to the upper brainstem that leaves the patient paralyzed and mute |
| monoplegia | paralysis of one limb on the left or right side of the body. |
| paraplegia | paralysis of the lower limbs and trunk |
| quadriplegia | paralysis of arms, legs, and trunk |
| astrocytoma | tumor arising from star-shaped glial cells that is malignant in higher grades. A grade IV astrocytoma is referred to as a glioblastoma multiforme, the most common primary brain cancer |
| ependymoma | tumors of the cells that line the ventricles of the brain. In children, ependymomas are usually intracranial; in adults they are most often intraspinal |
| medulloblastoma | tumor that arises from embryonic tissue in the cerebellum. Most commonly seen in children |
| meningioma | slow-growing, usually benign tumor of the meninges. Although benign, may cause problems because of its size and location |
| neuroblastoma | highly malignant tumor arising from either the autonomic nervous system or the adrenal medulla. Usually affects children younger than 10 years of age |
| ganglioneuroma | usually benign, slow-growing tumor that originates in the autonomic nervous system cells. |
| neurofibroma | benign fibrous tumors of tissue surrounding the nerve sheath |
| schwannoma | a type of tumor, benign or malignant, that is most commonly found in the inner ear (vestibular schwannoma) |
| cerebral angiography | X-ray of the cerebral arteries, including the internal carotids, taken after the injection of a contrast medium; also called cerebral arteriography |
| chemothalamectomy | injection of chemical substance to destroy part of the thalamus. Used to treat Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases |
| cordotomy | incision of the spinal cord to relieve pain. Also spelled chordotomy |
| craniotomy | incision into the skull as a surgical approach or to relieve intracranial pressure; also called "trephination" |
| deep tendon reflexes (DTR) | assessment of an automatic motor response by striking a tendon. Useful |
| echoencephalography | ultrasound exam of the brain, usually done only on newborns because sound waves do not readily penetrate bone |
| electroencephalography (EEG) | record of the electrical activity of the brain. May be used in the diagnosis of epilepsy, infection, and coma |
| ganglionectomy of the dorsal root | removal of the dorsal root ganglia to treat pain |
| hemispherectomy | removal of a cerebral hemisphere to treat intractable epilepsy |
| lumbar puncture (LP) | procedure to aspirate CSF from the lumbar subarachnoid space. A needle is inserted between two lumbar vertebrae to withdraw the fluid for diagnostic purposes. Once removed, the CSF is analyzed to detect pathogens and abnormalities. AKA spinal tap |
| myelography | X-ray of the spinal canal after the introduction of a radiopaque contrast |
| nerve block | use of anesthesia to prevent sensory nerve impulses from reaching the CNS |
| nerve conduction test | test pf the functioning of CNS or peripheral nerves. Conduction time (impulse travel) through a nerve is measured after a stimulus is applied; used to diagnose polyneuropathies |
| neurectomy | excision of part or all of a nerve to alleviate pain |
| neurexeresis | removal of the fifth cranial nerve to treat trigeminal neuralgia |
| neuroplasty | surgical repair of a nerve |
| neurotomy | incision of a nerve. Radiofrequency ablation is used to treat facet joint pain in the neck and back |
| pallidotomy | destruction of the globus pallidum to treat Parkinson's disease. The procedure relieves muscular rigidity and tremors |
| phrenemphraxis | crushing of the phrenic nerve to cause paralysis. Also called "phrenicotripsy" and "phreniclasis" |
| polysomnography (PSG) | measurement and record of a number of functions while the patient is asleep (cardiac, muscular, brain, ocular, & respiratory functions) most often to diagnose sleep apnea |
| rhizotomy | resection of the dorsal root of a spinal nerve to relieve pain |
| sympathectomy | surgical interruption of part of the sympathetic pathways for the relief of chronic pain or to promote vasodilation |
| tractotomy | cutting of a nerve tract to alleviate pain |
| transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) | method of pain control effected by the application of electrical impulses through the skin |
| vagotomy | cutting of a branch of the vagus nerve to reduce the secretion of gastric acid |
| ventriculocisternostomy | the creation of a new opening between a blocked ventricle and a cerebral cistern. Used to treat hydrocephalus |
| ventriculoperitoneostomy | procedure to drain fluid from brain ventricles through a shunt, catheter, and valve that leads to the abdominal cavity. Neuroendoscopy, a procedure that uses a fiberoptic camera to visualize neural structures is used to place the shunt |
| ventriculostomy, endoscopic | a new opening between the third ventricle and the subarachnoid space; used to treat one type of hydrocephalus. |
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