Pathology for Midterm Flashcards
Acute neuronal injury occurs from acute CNS hypoxia or ischemia resulting in early onset of neuronal cell death
^** 12-24 hours after the injury occurs, ____ neurons are seen with features of a shrunken cell body, pyknosis (chromatin condensation) of the nucleus, loss of nucleolus, and loss of Nissl substance with intense eosinophilia of the cytoplasm
Subacute and Chronic neuronal injury result from a progressive disease of some duration with the characteristic feature being cell ___ and reactive ___ (aka glial scar formation)
Red
Cell loss, gliosis
*********The axonal reaction is a change observed in the cell body during regeneration of the axon, best seen in the anterior horn cells of the spinal cord when motor axons are cut or seriously damaged
Axonal ____ are often seen in various pathological conditions such as POST-TRAUMATIC DIFFUSE AXONAL injury or in older individuals in the dorsal medulla oblongata
There is increased protein synthesis associated with axonal sprouting and this leads to enlargement and rounding up of the cell body aka Axonal spheroids, along with peripheral displacement of the nucleus, enlargement of the nucleolus, and dispersion of Nissl substance from the center to the periphery
Spheroids
*********Cerebral cortical (aka the cerebral cortex) atrophy aka a decrease in the size of the brain tissue, generally causes the ____ to expand since the brain is attempting to compensate in order to fill the cranial vault
^** The reason atrophy occurs after trauma is due to the fact that the neurons are reabsorbed and this is seen as atrophy
Ventricles
*********The BBB in the CNS contains
1) Capillaries lined by continuous ____ cells linked by ____ junctions
2) The basal lamina
3) Perivascular ____ end feet
Astrocytes have a MAJOR ROLE in CNS wound healing** and instead of ending up with a scar, you end up with a ____ structure/lesion
1) Enothelial, tight
3) Astrocytic
Cavitary
******Reactions to astrocyte (reactive astrocytosis) injury include ____, which is extremely important in indicating CNS injury and is characterized by hypertrophy AND hyperplasia of the astrocytes, along with accumulation of ____ (Glial fibrillary acidic protein aka a type of intermediate filament)
_____ fibers are thick, elongated, brightly eosinophilic irregular structures that occur within astrocytic processes and contain 2 HSPs and ubiquitin (dense bundles of glail filaments)
^** They represent condensation from previous glial damage (aka found in regions of long standing gliosis) and are cahracteristic of pilocytic astrocytomas
So once again, CHRONIC reactive fibrillary astrogliosis will be accompanied by rosenthal fibers
____ aka polyglucogan bodies aka “brain sand” are round, basophilic, periodic acid-schiff (PAS) positive located wherever there are astrocytic end processes, especially in the subpial and perivascular zones and are seen in arachnoid granulation
Cellular swelling is also seen
___ is when there is bubbly vaculoization of the neuropil (visible cytoplasm)
Gliosis, GFAP
Rosenthal
Corpora amylacea
Gemistocytic
*******Increased fluid leakage from the blood vessels or injury to various cells of the CNS is due to ____ and can lead to increased ICP (due to edema, increased CSF, or expanding mass lesions)
** In generalized edema, the gyri are ___, sulci are ___, and ventricular cavities are compressed
There are two ways this can occur
1) ____ edema (most common) is when there is an increase in extracellular fluid due to the ***____ being disrupted and with increased vascular permeability, the fluid is able to leave the vessels (intravascular compartments) and move into the spaces in the brain (intercellular spaces)
^** IVC -> Intercellular (aka interstitial) spaces of the brain
2) ___ edema occurs due to a secondary defect in neuronal, glial, or endothelial cell membranes allowing the intracellular fluid to be increased aka fluid can leak into the cells (intRAcellular)
^** So for an example of cytotoxic edema, a patient could have an ischemic/hypoxic injury causing defect in astrocytes leading to problems of maintenance of the normal membrane ionic gradient and fluid now escapes from the intravascular compartments
*** Generalized edema usually contains elements of both, leading to flattened gyri, narrowed intervening sulci, and compressed ventricular cavities
** So realize Vasogenic is intERcellular (aka intERstitial) aka the fluid is filled up between the cells in the interstitial space and cytotoxic is intRAcellular aka the cells themselves become filled with fluid
** ____ edema usually occurs due to a tumor or mass lesion whereas ____ edema usually occurs due to ischemia/hypoxia***
____ edema is when there is an increased in intravascular pressure that causes an abnormal flow of fluid from the intraventricular CSF across the ependymal lining to the periventricular white matter
Cerebral Edema
Flattened, narrowed
1) Vasogenic, BBB
2) Cytotoxic
Vasogenic, Cytotoxic
Interstitial (aka hydrocephalic)
******Excess accumulation of CSF within the ventricular system is called ____
If the ventricular system is obstructed and does not communicate with the subarachnoid space such as in the case of a mass in the 3rd ventricle, it is called a ____ hydrocephalus
^** In kids, the most commonly obstructed is the cerebral aqueduct connecting the 3rd and 4th ventricles and in non-communicating the ventricles are dilated ____
If the ventricular system is communicating with the subarachnoid space and the entire ventricular system is enlarged, it is called ____ hydrocephalus… One example is blockage at the arachnoid granulations which can be caused by ____ syndromes
^** Aka the CSF is not absorbed properly at the dural sinus level causing the ventricles to be ____ dilated
An increase in ventricular volume secondary to a loss of brain parenchyma (bilateral cerebral cortical atrophy) is called ____
Hydrocephalus
Non-communicating aka obstructive
Asymmetrically
Communicating, Chronic meningeal
Symmetrically
Hydrocephalus ex vacuo
********* Herniations can occur due to increased ICP and symptoms include Headache, ____ in the eyes, and others
Name the type of herniation
1) ____ herniation occurs when there is a unilateral or asymmetric expansion of the cerebral hemisphere causes displacement of the cingulate gyrus under the falx
^** This can cause compression of the ____ artery and its branches
********2) ____ herniation occurs when the medial aspect of the temporal lobe is compressed against the free margin of the tentorium
^** The ____ cranial nerve, ____ artery, and if big enough the contralateral cerebral ____ can all be compressed from this herniation
** Due to the transtentorial herniation, the cerebellar peduncles can be compressed against the tentorium cerebelli, which will lead to ____lateral hemiparesis or hemiplegia (aka loss of motor function) to the side of the herniation and this is called the ____**********
^** So if there is a mass lesion on the right side causing a treanstentiorial herniation, the left cerebral peduncle will be compressed and since that causes contralateral hemiparesis/hemiplegia it will therefore present on the right side (which is the same aka ipsilateral side of the herniation)
This type of herniation can also progress leading to secondary hemorrhagic lesions in the midbrain and pons called Duret hemorrhages
3) ____ herniation is when the cerebellar tonsils herniate through the foramen magnum and this can cause brainstem compression and death
If one sees Duret Hemorrhages (aka slit hemorrhages), it is characteristic of a ___ herniation
Papilledema
1) Subfalcine (aka cingulate) herniation
ACA (Anterior Cerebral artery)
2) Transtentorial (aka Uncinate aka Mesial temporal) herniation
3rd CN, PCA (Posterior Cerebral artery), Peduncle
**Ipsilateral, Kernohan notch ****
3) Tonsillar
Transtentorial
*******An overlying meningeal out-pouching with a patch of hair is ____
A meningeal extrusion with no CNS protrusion is ____
A meningeal extrusion WITH CNS protrusion is ____
Neural tube defects can often occur due to ____ deficiencies
Spina Bifida
Meningocele
Myelomeningocele
Folate
*************____ is a malformation characterized by reduction in the number of gyri and comes in 2 types
^** Don’t confuse with the flattened gyri seen in edema
Type 1 is due to mutations in the signaling for migration of the cytoskeletal motor proteins that drive neuroblast migration
Type 2 is due to genetic defects in the stop signal for the migration
Neuronal ____s are defined as the presence of collections of neurons in inappropriate locations along the pathway of migration and associated with ____
____ is when incomplete separation of the cerebral hemispheres across the midline occur and often associated with trisomy 13 and mutations of the Sonic HedgeHog signaling pathway
Lissencephaly
Heterotopias, Epilepsy
Holoprosencephaly
********POSTERIOR FOSSA ANOMALIES*
____ type 1 and 2 malformations are involved with the cerebellar tonsils extending down into the vertebral canal due to a ____ posterior fossa
^** KNOW THIS DEFINITION
^** Type 2 is more severe and involves a small posterior fossa, downward extension of the cerebellum’s vermis through the foramen magnum and most of the time also hydrocephalus and a lumbar myelomeningocele
____ can be associated with Chiari malformations which is a fluid filled cleft-like cavity within the inner portion of the spinal cord and is characterized by the isolated loss of ____ sensations in the ____ extremities
Dandy-walker malformations are due to a 1) ____ fossa vault causing the 2) cerebellar vermis to be absent and in its place is an expanded, roofless, fourth ventricle, and 3) dysplasia of the brainstem nuclei
^** I would be able to recognize these 3 symptoms**
BOTH CHIARI AND DANDY CAN LEAD TO HYDROCEPHALUS
Joubert syndrome involves hypoplasia of the cerebellar vermis and elongation of the superior cerebellar peduncles
Arnold-Chiari, small
Syringomyelia, pain and temp, upper
Enlarged
***********Non-progressive ** (so whatever defects child born with, they don’t progress) neurologic motor deficits characterized by spasticity, dystonia, ataxia/athetosis, and paresis is called _____ and these injuries occur during the prenatal and perinatal periods, but often don’t appear until birth
In premature infants, they are at an increased risk for ____ hemorrhage (aka bleeding within the brain parenchyma -> remember, parenchyma is the white and gray matter of the brain)
^** Premature infants are also at an increased risk for ____ which takes the form of chalky yellow plaques leading to white matter necrosis and calcification; and if both white AND gray matter are involved in an infract, large destructive cystic lesions throughout the hemispheres can develop called ____
** In perinatal ischemic lesions of the cerebrum, the depths of the sulci bear most of the injury leading to thin, gliotic gyri called ulegyria
Cerebral palsy
Intraparenchymal, Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), Multicystic encephalopathy (MCE)
**********Symptoms related to the lower cranial nerves or the cervicomedullary region, along with orbital or mastoid hematoma distant from the site of impact suggest a ____
^** Fractures that cross suture lines are called diastatic fractures
The parenchyma can be injured from contusions (bruise from blunt trauma) or lacerations (penetrating injury)
____ on cross section are wedge shaped with a broad base lying along the surface at the point of impact. Morphological evidence of neuronal injury is seen 24 hours after characterized by pyknosis, eosinophilia, and disintegration of the cell
***** So in summary, parenchymal injuries take the form of contusions that leads to hemorrhage which can extend into the subarachnoid space
Old traumatic lesions present as depressed, yellow-brown, retracted patches involving the crest of the gyri and this is called plaque Jaune
Along with the surface of the brain being affected, Diffuse Axonal Injury can develop affecting the deep white matter regions with eventual increase in microglia and eventual degeneration of the involved fiber tracts aka the body can NOT repair and you end up with ___ formation… Because remember, SPHEROIDS = POST-TRAUMATIC DIFFUSE AXONAL INJURY
^** So sometimes after trauma occurs, even if no cerebral contusions are seen, there can be diffuse axonal injury leading to coma and death
Basal skull fracture
Contusions
Spheroid
Along with skull and parenchymal injuries, vascular injuries can occur after trauma
Blood pooling between the dura and the periosteum on the internal surface of the skull is called an ____ hematoma and this most commonly occurs from the ___ being severed
^** Commonly associated with trauma due to ____ and ___ evolving neurological signs and this IS AN EMERGENCY
Also realize that sometimes Lucid Intervals are associated with epidural hematoma (lose consciousness, wake up, then lose it again) but is NOT diagnostic
When blood pools between the inner surface of the dura (meningeal dura layer) and the arachnoid layer it is called a ___ hematoma and this is due to the ___s being severed (these veins dump into the superior sagittal sinus)
^** Commonly associated with trauma (can be only a MILD trauma) and ____ evolving neurological signs aka 48 hours
^** Acute subdural hematoma occur as collections of freshly clotted blood along the brain surface with NO extension into the sulci. The underlying brain is flattened and the subarachnoid space is clear. Usually the bleeding is self-limited and eventually it is broken down and organized over time
There is also ___ formation with a subdural hematoma
Months to years after a brain trauma, neurological problems might manifest (called sequelae of brain trauma) such as in posttraumatic ____ due to obstruction of CSF from hemorrhage into the subarachnoid space, or ____ which occurs from re-accuring brain injuries leading to atrophic, enlarged ventricles, with accumulated tau-containing neurofibrillary tangles in a superficial frontal and temporal lobe cortex pattern
So one more time, although not diagnostic, the LUCID INTERVAL is most commonly seen in ___ hematomas
Epidural, Middle meningeal artery (MMA)
^** Note this is NOT the MCA**
Skull fractures, Rapidly
Subdural, Bridging veins
Slow
Membrane
Hydrocephalus, CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy)
Epidural
*********Lesions involving the ___ vertebrae can lead to paraplegia and lesions to the ___ vertebrae can lead to quadriplegia
Thoracic, Cervical
************Cerebrovascular disease (often called a ___) is when the brain becomes damaged from inadequate blood supply
^** So a STROKE is the clinical term for acute-onset neurologic deficits resulting from hemorrhagic or obstructive vascular lesions
- Note that TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) is a stroke with NO neuro damage
It can be thought of as being due to 2 processes
1) Hypoxia/Ischemia/Infraction resulting in impaired blood and O2 supply to the CNS tissue
^** Often due to an ____ rather than a thrombus (Remember, embolism is when a clot travels through the blood vessels and settles down and a thrombus is when the clot forms and doesn’t move)
^** The most common cause of an embolism to the brain is from ____ with myocardial infracts, valvular disease, and atrial fibrillations as important predisposing factors
** Realize that hypoxia is a lack of O2 from low PO2, decreased bloods O2 carrying capacity, or decreased O2 use by the tissue… Whereas Ischemia is a decrease in the blood supply to the tissue aka interruption of the normal circulatory flow from hypotension (reduction in perfusion pressure) or vessel obstruction
2) Hemorrhage from the CNS vessels being ruptured due commonly due hypertension and vascular anomalies like aneurysms (a weakness in blood vessels in the brain that fill with blood and can pop) and malformations
A thrombotic stroke implies there normally NOT hemorrhage
Stroke
Embolism
Cardiac mural thrombi
*************When there is GENERALIZED reduction of cerebral perfusion such as in a cardiac arrest, shock, or severe hypotension, ____ cerebral ischemia aka diffuse ischemic/hypoxic encephalopathy can occur
^** It can be mild or severe
Global ischemia is caused by blood loss, and the ischemic event (no matter what it is throbotic, embolotic, etc…) affects BOTH cerebral cortices and the outcome is not good…
^**Prognosis is very poor, but if it is a transient global ischemia, the prognosis is not as bad
Other than global cerebral ischemia, Local ischemia also can occur and has a better prognosis than global
One example is ____ infracts that occur at regions of the brain or spinal cord that lie at the most distant reaches of the arterial blood supply (commonly between the border zone of the ACA and MCA)
^** Damage results in a sickle-shaped band of necrosis over the cerebral convexity a few centimeters lateral to the inter-hemispheric fissure
Often, a local stroke LATERALIZES*** So if the patient is going blind in one eye, or weakness on one side of the body, consider a local stroke!******
For global ischemia, the brain becomes edematous and swollen leading to widened gyri and narrowed sulci.
^** Early morphological changes (12 to 24 hours) consist of red neurons (diffuse eosinophilia of neurons) and eventually injury to astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.
^ After the acute injury, neutrophils begin to infiltrate where the vascular supply has remained intact and after 24 hours to 2 weeks (aka 10 days), tissue necrosis, macrophage infiltration, vascular proliferation, and reactive gliosis has occurred
Finally, after 2 weeks repair begins by removing necrotic tissue, CNS architecture changes, an gliosis leading to a pattern termed _____ necrosis
Global
Watershed
Pseudolaminar necrosis
*******Unlike global cerebral ischemia with GENERALIZED reduction of cerebral perfusion, ___ cerebral ischemia occurs when a LOCALIZED area of the brain loses blood flow due to arterial occlusions or hypoperfusions
When ischemia is sustained, an infract will occur
Remember, focal cerebral infracts are most commonly from ____s
Focal
Embolisms
********The territory of distribution of the ____ artery is the most commonly affected by embolic infracts (remember, this artery comes off the internal carotid artery)
Hemorrhagic lesions that involve white matter are characteristic of ____ embolizations after trauma
Also thrombotic occlusions associated with atherosclerosis and plaque rupture can cause cerebrovascular disease and inflammatory processes can as well including infectious vasculitis, polyarteritis nodosa, and primary angiitis of the CNS
*************If once has a unilateral occlusion of the MCA there will be ____lateral hemiplegia (paralysis) affecting the face, arm, and leg; ___ affecting the ipsilateral head and eye deviation is ____ the side of stroke; and if it occurs on the left a global ___ will occur (aka loss of language)
^** So as an example, a Left MCA embolism = Aphasia, Right Hemiplegia (similar to hemiparesis) and right sensory loss (face and arm mostly affected), left hemianopsia (aka left visual field cut) and gaze is TOWARDS the side of stroke aka gaze to the left
^** Mnemonic = CHANGe -> C = contralateral paresis and sensory loss in face and arm, H = Homonymous Hemianopsia, A = Aphasia, N = Neglect, G = Gaze towards size of lesion
MCA
Bone marrow
Contralateral, homonymous hemianopia, towards, aphasia
******Infracts are divided into 2 main groups based on if there is hemorrhage or not
1) ____ infracts occurs first when an infract leads to loss of blood supply
^** After 48 hours, the tissue becomes pale, soft, swollen, and the corticomedullary junction becomes indistinct. From 10 days to 3 weeks, the tissue liquifies and becomes a fluid filled cavity aka the nonhemorrhagic infract turns into a ____ lesion meaning that the dead tissue is removed rather than repaired
Microscopically, after the first 12 hours ischemic neuronal changes occur (aka red neurons) along with cytotoxic and vasogenic edema. Astrocytes swell and myelinated fibers disintegrate. Reactive astrocytes developing a network of cytoplasmic extensions can be seen 1 week after injury
^**48 hours in, the phagocytic cells and microglia predominate and do so for the next 2 to 3 weeks. Finally after several months, the astrocytic response decreases leaving behind a meshwork of glial fibers mixed with new capillaries and some perivascular connective tissue
2) Hemorrhagic infracts occurs due to ischemia-____ injury with the hemorrhages being ____ in nature
^** The evolution is similar to non-hemorrhagic infracts except for the addition of blood extravasation and resorption
1) Non-hemorrhagic
Cavitary
2) Reperfusion, petechial
******____ can also cause cerebrovascular disease leading to slit hemorrhages, hypertensive encephalopathy, and lacunar infracts
Hypertension is the risk factor most commonly associated with deep brain parenchymal hemorrhages
1) ___ infracts can occur when hypertension affects the deep penetrating arteries and arterioles that supply the basal ganglia and hemispheric white matter along with the brainstem causing the cerebral vessels to become occluded due to arteriolar sclerosis (build up of fats, cholesterols, and other substances in the artery walls)
^** Lentculostriate arteries (which come off the MCA) are the major site for these
2) ____ hemorrhages are when hypertension causes rupturing of small-caliber penetrating vessels leading to slitlike cavities surrounded by brownish discoloration
3) Acute hypertensive encephalopathy occurs in the setting of ____ hypertension (aka extremely high hypertension that occurs very rapidly) characterized by diffuse cerebral dysfunction like headaches, confusion, vomiting, and convulsions
^** The brain becomes edematous and petechiae and fibrinoid necrosis of the arterioles in the gray and white matter can be seen microscopically along with CB microaneurysms, and multi-infract dementia (aka vascular dementia)
^** If a patient has multiple infracts (aka vascular dementia) and the pattern of injury affects mainly areas of subcortical white matter with myelin and axon loss, it is called ___ disease
Hypertension
1) Lacunar
2) Slit
3) Malignant
Binswanger
Unlike bleeding in the epidural or subdural space commonly from trauma, bleeding inside the parenchyma (intraparenchymal hemorrhage) often occurs from some form of cerebrovascular disease with the two most common causes being hypertension and cerebral amyloid angiopathy
^** So once again, the most common risk factor associated with deep brain parenchymal hemorrhages are ____ due to the fact that it causes vessel wall weakening exposing them to rupture easier
*** Most commonly, these hypertensive intraparenchymal hemorrhages originate in the putamen, thalamus, pons, cerebral hemispheres, etc.
^ Acute hemorrhages are characterized by the extravasation (leakage) of blood with compression of the adjacent parenchyma And older hemorrhages have a rim of brownish discoloration
Chronic hypertension can lead to minute aneurysms called Charcot-Bouchard microaneurysms most commonly in the basal ganglia
Hypertension
_____ is most commonly associated with lobar hemorrhages (frontal lobe, parietal lobe, etc…) and is caused by amyloid deposits in the walls of vessels, causing them to become weak
^** A feature of chronic inflamation
Often, micro-bleeds (many small hemorrhages) are seen and a polymorphism in the gene ____ with an E2 or E4 allele will increase ones risk with CAA for repeat bleeding
Another hereditary small vessel disease is CADASIL (Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infracts and leukoencephalopathy) is caused by mutations in ___ leading to the characteristic presence of basophilic, PAS-positive deposits containing misfolded NOTCH3 protein
CAA (Cerebral amyloid angiopathy)
ApoE
NOTCH3
*********The most frequent cause of a clinically significant sub-arachnoid hemorrhage aka bleeding into the subarachnoid space, is the rupture of a ____ in a cerebral artery
So if you see a patient with ONLY clinical finding being a subarachnoid hemorrhage, think -> Ruptured aneurysm Of the circle of willis***
Most saccular aneurysms are found near arterial branch points in the _____ (anterior or posterior?) circulation - usually along the circle of Willis (aka by the ACA, or by ICA, etc)
These aneurysms have NO smooth muscle and intimal elastic lamina and instead the sac is made up of thickened ___ intima and a covering of adventitia
They most commonly occur in the firth decade of life (50 yr) and more common in women. They can occur at anytime but most commonly when an increased intracranial pressure occurs such as with straining at stool or a sexual orgasm
^** Patients will present with a HORRIBLE headache and then lose consciousness
Hours to days after this occurs, increased risk of additional ischemic injury from vasospasm affecting the vessels bathed in blood and once the injury begins to heal, meningeal fibrosis/scarring can result in CSF obstruction and decreased CSF absorption
Saccular (aka Berry) aneurysm
Anterior
Hyalinized