When the heart stops and cerebral blood flow is interrupted during a cardiac arrest, patients lose consciousness and may remain comatose after resumption of circulation. Such a global injury to the brain is understandably profound, and more than 70% of…
Autoimmune encephalitis with antibodies to neuronal cell surface/synaptic antigens (further referred to as autoimmune encephalitis) are a group of neuropsychiatric disorders ( Table 82.1 ) in which the antibodies produce neuronal dysfunction by direct interaction with their target antigen (…
Pathogenesis Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNSs) are a heterogeneous group of disorders that are immune mediated ( Table 81.1 ). It is postulated that the expression of neuronal proteins (called onconeuronal proteins) by a tumor provokes an immune response that is…
Diseases affecting central nervous system (CNS) myelin can be classified on the basis of whether a primary biochemical abnormality of myelin exists (dysmyelinating) or whether some other process damages the myelin or oligodendroglial cell (demyelinating) . Demyelinating diseases in which…
Prior to the modern antimicrobial era, non-viral infections of the central nervous system (CNS) were almost universally fatal. The diagnosis and treatment of CNS infections have improved significantly with advancements made in spinal fluid diagnostic tests, neuroimaging, antimicrobial therapy, and…
Hundreds of viruses exhibit tropism for the central (CNS) and/or peripheral (PNS) nervous systems. In the case of some viruses, involvement of the CNS or PNS is the predominant feature of illness, whereas in others involvement of the nervous system…
Epidemiology and Current Trends Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first recognized in the United States in the summer of 1981 when unexplained occurrences of Pneumocystis jirovecii (formerly carinii ) pneumonia and Kaposi sarcoma were reported in cohorts of previously healthy…
Brain Metastases Epidemiology Parenchymal brain metastases (BMs) are the most common direct neurological complication of systemic cancer. BMs are the most common intracranial tumor in adults, with 200,000–300,000 diagnosed annually in the United States ( ). In comparison, there are…
Pediatric Primary Nervous System Tumors Primary brain tumors account for nearly 20% of all malignancies during childhood and adolescence worldwide, with an age-standardized incidence rate of 28.2 per million persons ( ; ). These tumors are second only to leukemia…
In the year 2019, approximately 86,970 cases of primary nervous system tumors are expected to occur in the United States ( ). The World Health Organization (WHO) distinguishes between six groups of neoplasms. Meningeal tumors (mostly meningioma) and neuroepithelial tumors…