Vascular Diseases of the Brain and Spinal Cord
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen The brain and spinal cord can be affected by a variety of conditions related to the vascular system: Ischemic stroke: lack of blood flow to a…
Infectious Diseases of the Nervous System
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Neurologic infections can be classified by clinical syndrome/localization (e.g., meningitis vs encephalitis vs myelitis vs radiculitis) and by the type of infection (e.g., viral, bacterial, tuberculous,…
Neoplastic and Paraneoplastic Disorders of the Nervous System and Neurologic Complications of Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen The nervous system can be affected in several ways in patients with neoplastic disease: Directly due to primary nervous system tumors or metastases to nervous system…
Delirium, Dementia, and Rapidly Progressive Dementia
APPROACH TO ALTERED COGNITION Print Section Listen When assessing patients with acute or chronic changes in cognition, two interrelated questions should be pursued during the history and examination: Is the…
Disorders of the Neuromuscular Junction
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen At the neuromuscular junction motor neurons release acetylcholine that binds to acetylcholine receptors on the postsynaptic muscle fibers, causing them to contract. Diseases of the neuromuscular…
Movement Disorders
INTRODUCTION TO MOVEMENT DISORDERS Print Section Listen In most realms of neurologic disease, localization is the first step toward differential diagnosis. In assessing movement disorders, however, the first step is…
Diseases of Muscle
CAUSES OF MUSCLE DISEASE Print Section Listen Muscle disease can be caused by: Inflammatory diseases: polymyositis, dermatomyositis, inclusion body myositis, immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy Medications: most commonly statins and corticosteroids, but…
Leukodystrophies and Mitochondrial Disorders
LEUKODYSTROPHIES Print Section Listen The leukodystrophies are diseases that affect the white matter of the CNS (Table 31–1). These diseases can begin in infancy, childhood, or adulthood. Infantile-onset leukodystrophies are…
Disorders of Intracranial Pressure
INCREASED INTRACRANIAL PRESSURE (INTRACRANIAL HYPERTENSION) Print Section Listen General Principles of Intracranial Pressure Intracranial Contents Contributing to Intracranial Volume and Pressure The skull contains three components that contribute to intracranial…
