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Brainstem death is a clinical syndrome defined by the absence of reflexes with pathways through the brainstem – the "stalk" of the brain, which connects the spinal cord to the mid-brain, cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres – in a deeply comatose, ventilator-dependent patient.
Cerebral edema is a potentially life-threatening complication of severely decreased sodium ion concentration in the blood (hyponatremia). [17] Ionic brain edema can also occur around the sites of brain hemorrhages, infarcts, or contusions due to a local plasma osmolality pressure gradient when compared to the high osmolality in the affected tissue.
The disorder has been known as Bickerstaff’s brainstem encephalitis ever since 1978 when Edwin Bickerstaff wrote a review in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology under the name “Brain stem encephalitis (Bickerstaff’s encephalitis)”. [11]
As well as this, it is common to incur an elevated blood protein level and a high volume of lymph cells within the cerebrospinal fluid, resulting in swelling and enlargement of the brain. The most characteristic signs and symptoms experienced by patients with cerebellar degeneration include: [2] [4] muscle weakness; an uncoordinated, staggering ...
Central pontine myelinolysis is a neurological condition involving severe damage to the myelin sheath of nerve cells in the pons (an area of the brainstem). It is predominately iatrogenic (treatment-induced), and is characterized by acute paralysis, dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), dysarthria (difficulty speaking), and other neurological symptoms.
Edema, or swelling, of the brain may occur which increases intracranial pressure and may result in brain herniation. A stroke may result in coma or death if it involves key areas of the brain. [14] Other symptoms of cerebrovascular disease include migraines, seizures, epilepsy, or cognitive decline.
Lee's death was officially ruled the result of cerebral edema — swelling of the brain. While a normal human brain is about 3 pounds, Lee's was reportedly closer to 3½ pounds.
Of those who have residual symptoms after PRES, this is attributable largely to hemorrhage. [1] [4] Non-resolution of MRI abnormalities has been linked with poorer outcomes. [4] The presence of brain hemorrhage and cytotoxic edema (brain edema with concomittant brain tissue damage) is also associated with a poor prognosis. [2]