Neurology Flashcards
typical features of cerebellar degeneration
- progressive gait dysfunction
- truncal ataxia
- nystagmus
- intention tremor or dysmetria
- impaired rapid alternating movements
what is dysdiadochokinesia?
impaired rapid alternating movements
what is dysmetria
limb-kinetic tremor when attempting to touch a target
what is Babinski sign and what does it indicate
upward deviation of great toe when stroke foot
suggests UMN lesion
what is the clasp knife phenomenon?
velocity dependent resistance to passive limb movement
seen in pts with hypertonia due to pyramidal tract disease
what cancers have primarily multiple brain mets?
lung
melanoma
what cancers usually have solitary brain mets?
breast
colon
renal cell
list cancers that met to brain in order of highest frequency
- lung
- breast
- unknown primary
- melanoma
- colon
cerebral toxoplasmosis most common in CD4 ___
<100
ring enhancing lesions
head imaging with nonenhancing/hypodense lesions, calcified granulomas indicates ____
neurocysticercosis
these are cysts at various stages of development
CSF findings of GBS
high protein
few cells
(albuminocytologic dissoc)
difference in time course for symptoms of GBS vs tick borne paralysis
tick- ascending paralysis over hours (ticks must feed 4-7 days first tho for release of neurotoxin)
GBS- days to weeks
examples of autonomic dysfunction that is often seen in GBS
tachycardia
urinary retention
arrhythmias
how and when does chemotherapy induced neuropathy present
weeks after treament
symmetrical paresthesias in fingers and toes spreading proximally in a stocking glove pattern
symptoms of anterior cord syndrome
BL motor function loss at and below level of injury
decr pain and temp sensation BL that begins 1-2 levels below cord injury
vibration, proprio ok
(basically lose everything except vibration, proprio)
lesions in ___ (3) generally cause UMN symptoms
brain
spinal cord
lesions in ____ cause LMN signs
level of spinal root
what symptoms should you suspect cauda equina syndrome
severe radicular lower back pain
plus:
- impaired motor/patchy sensory/reflex activity in LE
- bowel/bladder dysfunction
- or saddle anesthesia
management if cauda equina syndrome symptoms
urgent MRI
surgical decompression within 24-48 hours to prevent irreversible neurologic sequelae
what nerve roots does cauda equina carry
L2-L5
S1-S5
coccygeal nerve
memantine
- usage
- mechanism
severe Alzheimer disease
blocks action of glutamate on NMDA receptor
what labs should you always get in someone with dementia
thyroid function
vitamin B12
these are potentially reversible causes
potential etiologies of intracranial hypertension
- trauma
- space occupying lesions
- hydrocephalus
- impaired CNS venous outflow
- pseudotumor cerebri
presentation of intrancranial hypertension
- headache - worse at night
- n/v
- mental status changes, cog dysfunction
- focal neuro sxs (vision change, unsteady gait)
- seizure
- symptom worsening with maneuvers that further incr ICP
- papilledema