Examples of neurological examination in the following topics:
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- A neurological examination is the assessment of sensory neuron and motor responses, especially reflexes, to determine whether the nervous system is impaired.
- Generally a neurological examination is focused on finding lesions in the nervous systems or if there is another diffuse process that is problematic for the patient.
- A patient's history is the most important part of a neurological examination.
- An abbreviated mental test score is established after conducting a mini mental state examination;
- Examinations are aimed at ruling out the most clinically significant causes and determining the most likely causes.
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- During neurological examinations, the function of the spinal accessory nerve is often measured by testing the range of motion and strength of the aforementioned muscles.
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- Ataxia is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements, such as walking.
- Several possible causes exist for these patterns of neurological dysfunction.
- Physicians can find evidence of sensory ataxia during physical examination by having the patient stand with his/her feet together and eyes shut.
- Vitamin B12 deficiency may cause, among several neurological abnormalities, overlapping cerebellar and sensory ataxia.
- Recovery tends to be better in individuals with a single focal injury compared to those who have a neurological degenerative condition.
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- Physical examination, and electrocardiogram are part of the initial evaluation of syncope and other more specific tools such as loop recorders may be necessary in clinically uncertain cases.
- Other types include postural syncope (caused by a change in body posture), cardiac syncope (due to heart-related conditions), and neurological syncope (due to neurological conditions).
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- Examination will reveal a decreased resistance to passive movement, and muscles may feel abnormally soft and limp on palpation (diminished deep tendon reflexes also may be noted).
- Some disorders have a specific treatment, but the principal treatment for most hypotonia of idiopathic or neurologic origin is physical and/or occupational therapy for remidiation.
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- Consequences of intracranial hypertension: Large tumors or tumors with extensive perifocal swelling (edema) inevitably lead to elevated intracranial pressure (intracranial hypertension), which translates clinically into headaches, vomiting (sometimes without nausea), altered state of consciousness (somnolence, coma), dilation of the pupil on the side of the lesion (anisocoria), papilledema (prominent optic disc at the funduscopic eye examination).
- Dysfunction: Depending on the tumor location and the damage it may have caused to surrounding brain structures, either through compression or infiltration, any type of focal neurologic symptoms may occur, such as cognitive and behavioral impairment, personality changes, ataxia, visual field impairment, impaired sense of smell, impaired hearing, double vision, dizziness; more severe symptoms might occur, such as including partial paralysis or impairment to swallow.
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- B indicates an "incomplete" spinal cord injury where sensory but not motor function is preserved below the neurological level and includes the sacral segments S4-S5.
- This is typically a transient phase and if the person recovers any motor function below the neurological level, that person essentially becomes a motor incomplete, i.e.
- C indicates an "incomplete" spinal cord injury where motor function is preserved below the neurological level and more than half of key muscles below the neurological level have a muscle grade of less than three, which indicates active movement with full range of motion against gravity.
- D indicates an "incomplete" spinal cord injury where motor function is preserved below the neurological level and at least half of the key muscles below the neurological level have a muscle grade of three or more.
- Note that it is possible to have spinal cord injury and neurological deficits with completely normal motor and sensory scores.
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- CSF can be tested for the
diagnosis of various neurological diseases, usually with a
procedure called lumbar puncture.
- Moreover, a CSF culture examination may yield the
microorganism that has caused the infection.
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- A transient ischemic attack (abbreviated as TIA, often referred to as mini stroke) is a transient episode of neurologic dysfunction caused by ischemia—either focal brain, spinal cord, or retinal—without acute infarction (tissue death).
- The reason for the condition should be immediately examined by imaging of the brain.
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- Lateral medullary syndrome, also called Wallenberg syndrome and posterior inferior cerebellar artery syndrome, is a disease that presents with a constellation of neurologic symptoms due to injury to the lateral part of the medulla in the brain, resulting in tissue ischemia and necrosis, typically from blood clot (stroke) impeding the vertebral artery and/or the posterior inferior cerebellar artery .
- Treatment for lateral medullary syndrome involves focusing on relief of symptoms and active rehabilitation to help those suffering from the syndrome recover their activities of daily living and cope with neurologic loss that can be psychologically devastating.
- Depressed mood and withdrawal from society can be seen in patients following the initial neurologic insult.
- Others may be left with significant neurological disabilities for years after the initial symptoms appeared.