Clinical Correlates Flashcards
Spinia Bifida & Types of Spina Bifida
Failure of the vertebral arches to form completely (because of failure of the neural tube to close) and fuse to cover the spinal cord.
The affects the formation of the posterior arches of the vertebrae.
Types:
Occulta: nothing apparent on the outside by posterior arches absent in the vertebral column
Aperta: the defect is not covered by skin
Cystica: the absence of the posterior arches allows for the formation of a bulb or cyst through which either only the meninges (spina bifida meningocele) or both meninges and neural tissue (spina bifida meningomyelocele)
Ancephaly
The brain is not formed, the surrounding meninges and skull may be absent, and there may be facial abnormalities.
Hydrocephalus
Dilation of the ventricular system due to increased pressure from the obstructed flow of CSF
Ideomotor apraxia
These patients have deficits in their ability to plan or complete motor actions that rely on semantic memory.
They are able to explain how to perform an action, but unable to “imagine” or act out a movement such as “pretend to brush your teeth” or “pucker as though you bit into a sour lemon.”
The ability to perform an action automatically when cued, however, remains intact.
Lesion Location: Premotor Areas (Frontal Lobe)
Ideational Apraxia
Patients have an inability to conceptualize a task and impaired ability to complete multistep actions.
Consists of an inability to select and carry out an appropriate motor program.
For example, the patient may complete actions in incorrect orders, such as buttering bread before putting it in the toaster, or putting on shoes before putting on socks.
Lesion Location: Premotor Areas (Frontal Lobe)
Expressive Aphasia
Characterized by an inability to produce speech.
These patients can understand speech and represent what they want to say but are unable to produce fluent speech.
Lesion Location: Broca’s Area (Frontal Lobe)
Receptive Aphasia
These patients seem relatively fluent but their speech is non-sensical.
They have great difficulty understanding speech, and don’t realize that their speech doesn’t make sense
Lesion Location: Wernicke’s Area (Frontal and Temporal Lobes, Left Hemisphere)
Unilateral Neglect
A lesion in the parietal-temporal-occipital cortex can cause the patient to neglect and entire side of the body.
Tends to happen in the right hemisphere, causing neglect of the left side of the body.
Meningeal hemorrhages
These can occur at the skull dural interface (epidural), at the dura-arachnoid interface (subdural - most common), or within the arachnoid space.
These lesions are usually die to trauma.
Epidural
Anaesthetic given OUTSIDE the dural sac in the spinal cord, bathing the spinal nerves.
Spinal Tap
Puncture goes into the arachnoid space to remove CSF for testing.
Done below L2 to avoid puncturing the spinal cord.
Stroke
AKA Cerebrovascular accident (CVA)
Refers tot the neurological symptoms or signs, usually focal and acute, that result from disease involving the blood vessels.
Strokes are either:
Occlusive - due to a clot/closure in a blood vessel (more common)
Hemorrhagic - due to bleeding from a blood vessel
