CNS Pathology

Question 1

What is the usual etiology of subdural hematomas?

Answer 1

It is usually the result of trauma with tearing of the bridging veins.

Question 2

What is the usual etiology of epidural hematomas?

Answer 2

Such a location for hemorrhage is virtually always the result of trauma that causes a tear in the middle meningeal artery.

Question 3

What are Duret’s hemorrhages?

Answer 3

Duret hemorrhages are small areas of bleeding in the ventral and paramedian parts of the upper brainstem. They are secondary to raised intracranial pressure with formation of a transtentorial pressure cone involving the cerebral peduncles (crus cerebri) and other midbrain structures caused by raised pressure above the tentorium.

Question 4

Briefly describe the main glial cells

Answer 4

Microglia - Defense cells (M also stands for macrophage)

Macroglia:
-CNS
Astrocytes - Mechanical and metabolic support
Oligodendrocytes
Radial cells - scaffold upon which newborn neurons migrate. (In adults, Bergmann cells in the cerebellum and Muller cells in the retina)
-PNS
Schwann cells
Satellite cells - "PNS astrocytes"
Enteric glial cells