| Word | Definition |
| Angiography | An X-ray or ultrasound examination of the arteries |
| Ataxia | Loss of the control of muscle function, leading to a staggering walk and difficulty performing delicate tasks with the hands |
| Atheroma | Fatty deposits that build up inside an artery and can eventually block it completely and cause a stroke. |
| Berry Aneurysm | A bulge in the wall of an artery that is a weak spot and can burst causing a stroke, so called because of its resemblance to a berry |
| Bruit- (Brewee) | The noise that can be heard when listening to a partially blocked artery through a stethoscope |
| Carotid Endarterectomy | An operation performed to clear the inside of the carotid artery of Atheroma |
| Cerebral Angiogram | A scan showing blood vessels in the brain |
| CSF- Cerebrospinal fluid | A watery fluid surrounding the brain |
| CT Scan- Computerised Tomography Scan | A type of X-ray that gives clearer pictures |
| DVT- (Deep Vein Thrombosis) | A clot of blood in the veins, usually of the leg |
| Dysarthria | Speech disorder in which the pronunciation is unclear although the meaning of what is said is normal.An impairment of
speech production resulting from
damage to the nervous system,
affecting voice production,
articulation, resonance and
intonation.
|
| Dysphagia | Problems with swallowing |
| Infarction | An area of cell death (e.g. part of the brain) as a result of being deprived of its blood supply
|
| Lacunar Stroke | A small stroke less than about one centimetre in diameter |
| Neuroplasticity | Nerve cells that take over the function of other nerve cells that are no longer functioning |
| Nystagmus | Involuntary jerking of the eyes. It occurs in disorders of the part of the brain responsible for eye movements
|
| Shunt | A tube fitted in the skull to drain away CSF thus reducing excess pressure on the brain |
| Stroke | Damage to the brain caused by either bleeding, or more commonly blockage of artery |
| TIA- (Transient Ischaemic Attack) | A stroke in which symptoms last about 24 hours or less |
| Vertigo | An abnormal sensation of movement |
| Warfarin | A type of anticoagulant drug, used to reduce the risk of blood clots forming. |
| Dysphasia | Difficulty in using language. It can either be a problem understanding language (receptive) or speaking it (expressive). People are often affected by both sorts
|
| Electrocardiogram (ECG) | The test that records the electrical activity of the heart |
| Heparin | An anticoagulant given to prevent blood clots forming |
| Hydrocephalus | Raised pressure within the skull due to an abnormal build-up of the fluid that surrounds the brain. It can occur after a brain haemorrhage |
| Hypertension | High blood pressure |
| Intracerebral haemorrhage | A haemorrhage inside the brain |
| Pulmonary embolism | A blood clot in the lungs, which can very rapidly lead to sudden death |
| Subarachnoid haemorrhage | Bleeding between the brain and one of the covering membranes, often due to a leaking aneurysm |
| Blood Pressure | The pressure of the blood against the walls of the main arteries. Pressure is highest when the ventricles in the heart contract (systole) and lowest when they relax (diastole). The two pressures are measured in millimetres of mercury and shown as follows eg 120/80 |
| Paraphasia | Condition characterized by fluent utterance of speech sounds in which the production of unintended syllables, words, or phrases are prominent during the effort to speak, similar errors observed in written language |
| Apraxia of speech | An impairment of speech caused by damage to the area of the brain responsible for planning orderly movements of the speech muscles; the partial or total inability to initiate or sequence speech sound in the proper order despite the fact the muscles of speech themselves may have adequate strength |
| Clonus | A word used by physios.
It's where your affected leg...er...shudders by itself, & you have no control over it. |
| Dysfluency | Any type of speech which is marked with repetitions, prolongation, and hesitations; an interruption in the flow of speech sounds |
| Phonation | Production voiced sound by means of vocal fold vibration |
| Verbosity | Inability to control amount of verbalization (talking); often disorganized speech. |
| Agnosia | The inability to recognise an object by touch alone with both hands
|
| Agraphia | Inability to express thought in writing |
| Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) | A type of scan that, instead of X-rays, uses a large, powerful magnet to create an image (picture) of part of the body |
| Dipridamole | A pill that separates blood platelets to stop clotting, combined with aspirin, this is an effective medicine. |
| Plavix | Medication to thin the blood in cases of for example "a Cerebellar Infart" in order to assist the clotting and prevent Platelets breaking away. |
| High tone | An expression used by physio's when your affected legs muscles feels really tight all of the time. |
| Atrial Fibrillation | Heart condition in which the upper left side of the heart beats out of rhythm with the other three chambers. It increases the risk of a blood clot forming inside the heart, which can break off, travel to the brain and cause a TIA or stroke.
|
| Vertebral arteries | The two arteries that travel up the back of the neck to the brain which, with the two carotid arteries, supply all the blood to the brain
|
| Neurologist | A doctor who specialises in diseases of the brain and nervous system |
| Naso-gastric tube | A tube that is passed through the nose down the throat into the stomach usually to allow feeding
|
| Cerebrum | The largest parts of the brain, made up of the left and right hemispheres (sides)
|
| CVA | The abbreviation for 'cerebro-vascular accident'. The term is widely used but is not a good one: many strokes do not affect the cerebrum and none of them is an accident! Stroke' is a better term
|
| Brainstem | The part of the brain linking the two halves of the brain to the spinal cord. It contains some vital nerves cells to do with breathing, the heart, the eyes and many other important functions
|
| Hemianopia | Loss of one-half of the normal field of vision |
| Hemiparesis | Weakness of one-half of the body
|
| Hemiplegia | Complete paralysis of half of the body
|
| Occupational Therapist (OT) | A therapist who specialises in helping people to reach their maximum level of function and independence in all aspects of daily life |
| Carotid artery | There are two carotid arteries on each side of the neck which carry blood from the heart to the head, notably the face and front of the brain. Disease of a carotid artery is a common cause of stroke |
| Cardio-embolic stroke | Stroke due to a clot that formed in the heart and travelled to the brain
|
| Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) | A therapist who specialises in the rehabilitation of people with speech and language difficulties, helping them to improve their speech and language and/or to find alternative ways of communicating. S/he is also expert in problems with swallowing.
|
| Circumlocution | Literally meaning
‘talking round’ this describes a
strategy that many people with
aphasia employ when they
experience word-finding difficulties,
e.g. ‘an animal with a long neck - not
a zebra for giraffe. |
| Articulation | The production of the
sounds of speech by the movement
of the lips, tongue and jaw. |
| Broca’s aphasia | A form of nonfluent
aphasia characterised by slow
and ‘telegrammatic’ speech, where
key words are spoken, often in the
wrong order, but the words that
would usually link them into a
sentence or phrase are missing. It is
named after the French neurologist,
Broca, who first associated this form
of aphasia with damage to the left,
frontal area of the brain. |
| Fluent aphasia | A form of aphasia
usually resulting from damage to the
back, left side of the brain and
characterised by easily articulated, or
clearly voiced, language, often with
good sentence structure but which
may contain some degree of jargon, or
nonsense words, or where the person
experiences difficulties in finding the
right words. |
| Jargon aphasia | A type of aphasia
in which many if not all spoken
language consists of nonsense words
which bear little or no resemblance
to the intended word. |
| Global aphasia | A severe form of
aphasia in which both understanding
and expression of language are
severely impaired. |
| Wernicke’s aphasia | A form of
fluent aphasia in which grammar and
sentence structure are relatively
unscathed but in which many jargon
words are produced and the ability to
understand language is impaired. |
| Locked-in syndrome | A condition
resulting from a stroke affecting the
brain stem which usually results in
total paralysis, including loss of
speech and swallowing, but in which
the intelligence of the person is not
affected. Sometimes eye movement
is still possible and can be used as a
mode of communication. |
| T.E.E. in U.S.A & T.O.E in Britian | TEE's transducer is threaded through the mouth and esophagus. To do this, the back of the throat is sprayed with a topical anesthetic to soothe the nerves causing the gag reflex. In some centers, sedation is used to ease the discomfort to the individual. The use of local anesthetic agents and sedation can decrease the gag reflex, making the ultrasound probe easier to pass into the esophagus. The transducer and cable are then coated in a lubricant, placed in the patient’s mouth, and then passed down the patient's throat. The individual is instructed to swallow while the probe is being passed down, to prevent it from going into the trachea. Although the placement of the thumb-wide transducer is uncomfortable, there are very few complaints of gagging from the patient once the transducer is in the correct location.
|
| Cerebellum | The part of the brain that controls fine (delicate) movements, also governs balance and co-ordination
|
| Muscle tone | The degree of tension in a muscle when at rest. |