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| Glossary Page---4 |
Peritoneum - The membrane covering the visceral organs and lining the abdominal cavity.
Posterior Fossa - Depression in the back of the skull.
PND - is a painful neuropathic disorder; any painful disorder where the pain is caused by nerve damage;
such as diabetic neuropathy or post-herpetic neuralgia
Papilledema - swelling/bruising of the optic nerve due to increased ICP
Platybasia - A developmental anomaly of the skull or an acquired softening of the skull bones so that the
floor of the posterior cranial fossa bulges upward in the region adjacent to the foramen magnum.
Pleural Space - Space between the lungs and the membranes that surrounds the lungs.
Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) - another name for IIH; so named because the symptoms mimic the presence of a tumor
Sagittal - A plane or section that divides a structure into right and left portions.
Scoliosis - A congenital abnormal lateral curvature of the spine.
Shunt - a surgically implanted tube used to divert, or drain, CSF
Sleep apnea - See Apnea
Spasticity - Stiffness or position that is difficult to release.
Spina Bifida - The failure of the spine to close properly during the first month of pregnancy. In severe
cases, the spinal cord protrudes through the back and may be covered by skin or a thin membrane.
Spinal Stenosis - Abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal. May be congenital, or acquired through injury.
Surgery (including a laminectomy) is usually required to widen the canal and thereby reduce pressure on the spinal cord.
Stenosis - the narrowing or blockage of a passage
Syringomyelia - often referred to as SM, is a chronic disorder involving the spinal cord. For reasons
that are only now being understood, cerebrospinal fluid enters the spinal cord, forming a cavity known as a syrinx.
(It is also termed in reference to other words such as cyst, hydromyelia or syringohydromyelia)
Syrinx - fluid filled cyst in the spinal cord
Suboccipital Craniectomy - exposes the temporal bone for drilling for the translabyrinthine approach. It exposes the sigmoid sinus and the dura medial to it for the retrosigmoid approach
Tachycardia - rapid heart beat
Tethered Cord - A defect in the fusion of the spinal processes and laminas seen in spinal bifida occulata.
Sometimes the spinal cord is trapped at the level of the defect and may produce neurological dysfunction. (Tethered) Surgical
correction is required.
Tonsillar Herniation - displacement of the cerebellar tonsils out of the skull; usually measured in mm
below the bottom of the skull.
Valsalva - a maneuver consistent with straining, a Valsalva headache is one brought on by straining
Ventriculo-Peritoneal Shunt - A shunt or tube inserted into the ventricles of the brain attached to tubing which is placed into the abdominal or peritoneal cavity to drain excess spinal fluid from the brain.
Ventriculosubarachnoid Shunt - A shunt or tube placed in the space occupied by the cerebral spinal fluid (SPF).
Weakness - Inability to grasp or transfer an object.
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