[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [General pathology](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/) › Central nervous system # Central nervous system Edema and hydrocephalus, malformations, trauma, vascular disease, infections, demyelination, neurodegeneration and tumours. 42 pages ## Lesion - [**Acute meningitis: pyogenic vs aseptic** Meningitis is infection of the brain's coverings; bacteria give pus and an emergency, viruses…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/acute-meningitis-pyogenic-vs-aseptic/) - [**Adult diffuse gliomas** Diffuse gliomas grow into normal brain like roots; glioblastoma, the worst, shows dead zones…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/adult-diffuse-gliomas/) - [**Alzheimer disease: plaques and tangles** Alzheimer disease is the commonest cause of dementia: amyloid plaques build up between neurons…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/alzheimer-disease-plaques-and-tangles/) - [**Berry aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage** A berry aneurysm is a thin pouch at a fork of the brain's arteries; when it bursts, blood fills…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/berry-aneurysm-and-subarachnoid-hemorrhage/) - [**Brain abscess and empyema** Bacteria can reach the brain from sinuses, ears, teeth, the blood or wounds and form a pocket of…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/brain-abscess-and-empyema/) - [**Brain and spinal cord trauma** A blow or a sudden stop can crack the skull, bruise the brain where it hits bone, shear axons…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/brain-and-spinal-cord-trauma/) - [**Brain malformations: forebrain and posterior fossa** Brain malformations arise when cells are too few, move to the wrong place or fold wrongly; many…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/brain-malformations-forebrain-and-posterior-fossa/) - [**Brain metastases and paraneoplastic syndromes** Cancers from the lung, breast, skin and kidney often spread to the brain; others act at a…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/brain-metastases-and-paraneoplastic-syndromes/) - [**Cerebral infarction** When one brain artery is blocked, the tissue it feeds dies and liquefies; the age of the infarct…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/cerebral-infarction/) - [**Chronic bacterial meningoencephalitis: TB, syphilis, Lyme** Tuberculosis, syphilis and Lyme disease can smoulder in the brain for weeks or years, causing…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/chronic-bacterial-meningoencephalitis-tb-syphilis-lyme/) - [**Ependymal, choroid plexus and glioneuronal tumours** Tumours from the ventricle lining and choroid plexus block CSF flow; mixed neuronal tumours are…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/ependymal-choroid-plexus-and-glioneuronal-tumours/) - [**Epidural vs subdural hematoma** Epidural bleeds are arterial and fast, between skull and dura; subdural bleeds are venous and…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/epidural-vs-subdural-hematoma/) - [**Frontotemporal lobar degeneration** Frontotemporal degeneration shrinks the frontal and temporal lobes, changing personality and…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/frontotemporal-lobar-degeneration/) - [**Fungal infections of the CNS** Fungi reach the brain mostly in people with weak immunity, causing chronic meningitis, abscesses…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/fungal-infections-of-the-cns/) - [**Global hypoxic-ischemic brain injury** When the whole brain loses blood or oxygen, as in cardiac arrest, the most sensitive neurons die…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/global-hypoxic-ischemic-brain-injury/) - [**Herpesvirus encephalitis** Herpes simplex type 1 is the most common cause of serious sporadic encephalitis; zoster and CMV…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/herpesvirus-encephalitis/) - [**HIV in the brain and PML** HIV can damage the brain directly and opens the door to infections such as JC virus, which…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/hiv-in-the-brain-and-pml/) - [**How brain cells react to injury** Neurons cannot divide, so they show injury by shrinking, swelling or storing debris; astrocytes…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/how-brain-cells-react-to-injury/) - [**Huntington disease and inherited ataxias** Huntington disease destroys the caudate and causes chorea and dementia; inherited ataxias wear…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/huntington-disease-and-inherited-ataxias/) - [**Inherited metabolic diseases of the brain** Missing enzymes can fill neurons with stored material, destroy white matter or starve the brain…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/inherited-metabolic-diseases-of-the-brain/) - [**Medulloblastoma and other embryonal tumours** Medulloblastoma is the commonest malignant brain tumour of children: small blue cells in the…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/medulloblastoma-and-other-embryonal-tumours/) - [**Meningioma** Meningiomas grow from the brain's covering, are usually slow and benign, and press on the brain…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/meningioma/) - [**Metabolic and toxic brain injury** Low sugar, ammonia from a failing liver and poisons such as carbon monoxide, alcohol and…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/metabolic-and-toxic-brain-injury/) - [**Motor neuron diseases** Motor neuron diseases kill the nerve cells that move muscles; ALS takes both upper and lower…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/motor-neuron-diseases/) - [**Multiple sclerosis: the plaque** In multiple sclerosis the immune system strips myelin from nerve fibres in the brain and cord…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/multiple-sclerosis-the-plaque/) - [**Neural tube defects** If the neural tube does not close in the fourth week, brain or spinal cord stay open or bulge…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/neural-tube-defects/) - [**Other demyelinating diseases** Several diseases besides multiple sclerosis destroy myelin: antibody attacks on astrocytes…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/other-demyelinating-diseases/) - [**Parasitic brain infections** Pork tapeworm larvae, Toxoplasma, amoebae and malaria can all attack the brain…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/parasitic-brain-infections/) - [**Parkinson disease and Lewy body disorders** In Parkinson disease, dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra die and alpha-synuclein clumps…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/parkinson-disease-and-lewy-body-disorders/) - [**Perinatal brain injury** Babies born early or deprived of oxygen around birth can bleed into fragile brain tissue or lose…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/perinatal-brain-injury/) - [**Pilocytic astrocytoma** Pilocytic astrocytoma is a slow, well-defined childhood tumour, often a cyst in the cerebellum…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/pilocytic-astrocytoma/) - [**Poliomyelitis and rabies** Poliovirus kills motor neurons and leaves floppy paralysis; rabies travels up nerves to the…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/poliomyelitis-and-rabies/) - [**Primary CNS lymphoma** Primary CNS lymphoma is a B-cell cancer that starts in the brain, eyes or spinal cord, mostly in…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/primary-cns-lymphoma/) - [**Prion diseases** Prion diseases are caused by a misfolded protein that converts normal copies; they cause rapid…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/prion-diseases/) - [**Small vessel disease: hypertensive and amyloid hemorrhage** Years of high blood pressure or amyloid damage the brain's tiny arteries, which then bleed or…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/small-vessel-disease-hypertensive-and-amyloid-hemorrhage/) - [**Thiamine and B12 deficiency in the CNS** Lack of thiamine damages memory and eye-movement centres; lack of B12 damages the back and side…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/thiamine-and-b12-deficiency-in-the-cns/) - [**Vascular malformations of the brain** Some brain vessels form abnormally from birth: tangles of arteries and veins or clusters of thin…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/vascular-malformations-of-the-brain/) - [**Viral encephalitis: the shared pattern** Viruses that infect the brain leave a common footprint of lymphocytes around vessels and…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/viral-encephalitis-the-shared-pattern/) ## Mechanism - [**Cerebral edema, hydrocephalus and herniation** The skull is a closed box: swelling, extra fluid or a mass raises pressure until brain is pushed…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/cerebral-edema-hydrocephalus-and-herniation/) ## Topic - [**CNS tumours: an overview** Brain tumours are now named by both their look and their genes; even ‘benign’ ones can kill by…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/cns-tumours-an-overview/) - [**Familial tumour syndromes of the nervous system** Some families inherit a faulty tumour-suppressor gene that causes many nervous system tumours…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/familial-tumour-syndromes-of-the-nervous-system/) - [**Neurodegeneration: the protein table** Most neurodegenerative diseases share one theme: a misfolded protein clumps inside or outside…](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/neurodegeneration-the-protein-table/) ## A to Z - [A](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/a/) - [B](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/b/) - [C](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/c/) - [D](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/d/) - [E](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/e/) - [F](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/f/) - [G](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/g/) - [H](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/h/) - [I](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/i/) - [J](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/j/) - [K](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/k/) - [L](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/l/) - [M](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/m/) - [N](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/n/) - [O](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/o/) - [P](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/p/) - [R](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/r/) - [S](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/s/) - [T](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/t/) - [U](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/u/) - [V](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/v/) - [W](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/a-z/w/) [← General pathology](https://durgical.com/en/general-pathology/) Educational content on the mechanisms of disease; not a diagnostic or treatment guide and no substitute for a health professional's advice. 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