Arab Board Neurosurgery Final Clinical & Oral flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Monro-Kellie Doctrine

The cranial vault contains brain, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid in fixed volume; expansion of one compartment raises intracranial pressure unless compensation occurs.

Cushing Triad

Hypertension with bradycardia and irregular respirations indicates raised intracranial pressure and impending herniation, requiring urgent decompression and airway control.

Epidural Hematoma

Blood between skull and dura, usually from middle meningeal artery injury, appears biconvex on CT and may show a lucid interval before deterioration.

Diffuse Axonal Injury

Shear injury at grey-white junctions causing punctate hemorrhages on susceptibility-weighted MRI, often with low Glasgow Coma Scale and poor prognosis.

Nimodipine After SAH

Calcium channel blocker given 60 mg every four hours for 21 days after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage to reduce delayed cerebral ischemia and poor outcome.

Hunt and Hess Scale

Clinical grading of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage from grade 1 (asymptomatic) to grade 5 (coma), correlating with prognosis and management urgency.

Spetzler-Martin Grading

Arteriovenous malformation grading using size, eloquence of location, and venous drainage pattern to estimate surgical risk and guide treatment.

Moyamoya Disease

Progressive stenosis of distal internal carotid arteries with collateral puff-of-smoke vessels, treated by revascularization to prevent ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

Glioblastoma Multiforme

WHO grade 4 astrocytoma with ring enhancement and necrosis, treated by maximal safe resection followed by temozolomide and radiation therapy.

Meningioma Imaging Features

Extra-axial dural-based mass with homogeneous enhancement and possible dural tail; grade and location guide resection and recurrence risk.

Bitemporal Hemianopia

Visual field loss from optic chiasm compression, typically by a pituitary adenoma, affecting crossing nasal retinal fibers and impairing peripheral vision.

Spinal Cord Compression

Epidural tumor or abscess compressing the cord causes back pain, weakness, and sphincter dysfunction; urgent MRI and corticosteroids are indicated.

Cauda Equina Syndrome

Saddle anesthesia, bowel or bladder dysfunction, and bilateral leg weakness from lumbosacral root compression; urgent surgical decompression is required.

Spinal Epidural Abscess

Infection in the epidural space causing fever, back pain, and neurologic deficit; MRI and urgent drainage with antibiotics are indicated.

Chiari II Malformation

Hindbrain herniation associated with myelomeningocele, often causing hydrocephalus and brainstem symptoms requiring shunt or decompression.

Myelomeningocele

Neural tube defect with exposed spinal cord and meninges; early closure reduces infection risk and may improve motor and shunt outcomes.

Dandy-Walker Malformation

Cerebellar vermis hypoplasia with cystic dilation of the fourth ventricle, often producing hydrocephalus requiring shunt or fenestration.

Craniosynostosis

Premature suture fusion causing skull deformity and possible raised intracranial pressure; surgical timing depends on suture involvement.

Deep Brain Stimulation

Implanted electrodes modulating subthalamic nucleus or globus pallidus interna improve Parkinson motor symptoms and reduce medication fluctuations.

Anterior Temporal Lobectomy

Resection of mesial temporal structures for refractory epilepsy, especially mesial temporal sclerosis, with good rates of seizure freedom.

Microvascular Decompression

Surgical separation of a vascular loop from the trigeminal nerve root, effective for trigeminal neuralgia when compression is demonstrated on imaging.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Implanted device stimulating the vagus nerve to reduce seizure frequency in medically refractory epilepsy not amenable to resection.

Erb Palsy

Brachial plexus injury involving C5-C6 roots, causing weakness of shoulder abduction and elbow flexion with the arm held in adduction.

Klumpke Palsy

Brachial plexus injury involving C8-T1 roots, causing hand weakness and possible Horner syndrome from sympathetic fiber involvement.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Median nerve compression at the wrist causing thenar wasting and nocturnal numbness, confirmed by nerve conduction studies and treated by ligament release.

Vestibular Schwannoma

Benign cerebellopontine angle tumor from vestibular nerve causing sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus; MRI shows enhancing mass.

Pituitary Apoplexy

Acute hemorrhage or infarction of a pituitary adenoma causing headache, visual loss, and ophthalmoplegia; urgent transsphenoidal decompression is indicated.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhea

Leakage of cerebrospinal fluid through the nose from a skull base defect, confirmed by beta-2 transferrin and treated with endoscopic repair.

Intracranial Pressure Monitoring

Invasive monitoring considered in severe traumatic brain injury with abnormal CT; treatment threshold is often 20-22 mmHg with hyperosmolar therapy.

Informed Consent

Disclosure of diagnosis, proposed treatment, alternatives, risks, and benefits with confirmation of patient understanding before proceeding.

Decision-Making Capacity

Decision-specific ability to understand, appreciate, reason about, and communicate a choice; assessed clinically and required for consent.

Glasgow Coma Scale

Score from 3 to 15 combining eye, verbal, and motor responses; severe traumatic brain injury is defined as 3 to 8.