Glossary of Terms
| Anti-Coagulants: | A drug therapy used to prevent the formation of blood clots that can become lodged in cerebral arteries and cause strokes. |
| BAER: | Brainstem auditory evoked responses (BAER), also known as auditory brainstem evoked response (ABR), test both the ear and the brain. They measure the timing of electrical waves from the brainstem in response to clicks or tone bursts in the ear. Computer averaging over time to filters background noise to generate an averaged response of the auditory pathway to an auditory stimulus Three waves (1, 3 and 5) are plotted for each ear. The waveform represents specific anatomical points along the auditory neural pathway: the cochlear nerve and nuclei (waves I and II), superior olivary nucleus (wave III), lateral lemniscus (wave IV), and inferior colliculi (wave V). Delays of one side relative to the other suggests a lesion in the 8th cranial nerve between the ear and brainstem or the brainstem itself. |
| Barrium Swallow Test: | An upper gastrointestinal series (barium swallow) is an X-ray test used to define the anatomy of the upper digestive tract. |
| Brain Stem: | The stemlike part of the brain that is connected to the spinal cord. Or conversely, the extension of the spinal cord up into the brain. The brain stem is small but important. It manages messages going between the brain and the rest of the body, and it also controls basic body functions such as breathing, swallowing, heart rate, and blood pressure. The brain stem also controls consciousness and determines whether one is awake or sleepy. The brain stem consists of the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata. Stroke in the brain stem can be particularly devastating. |
| CT Scan: | Also known as CAT Scan. A specialized form of X-ray that allows physicians to see the internal structure of the brain in precise detail. |
| EEG: | Electroencephalography (EEG) is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain by using sensors (electrodes) attached to your head and connected by wires to a computer. The computer records your brain's electrical activity on the screen or on paper as wavy lines. Certain conditions, such as seizures can be detected by observing changes in the normal pattern of the brain's electrical activity. |
| Fibromuscular Dysplasia (FMD): | Damage to brain tissue, and inherited disorder that leads to the destruction of arterial blood vessels which can cause bleeding in the brain. It strikes most commonly white females (3:1 to men) particularly women 20 to 40 years of age.
For more information on FMD read the About FMD section of this website. |
| Heparin: | Heparin (HEP-a-rin) is an anti-coagulant. It is used to decrease the clotting ability of the blood and help prevent harmful clots from forming in the blood vessels. This medicine is sometimes called a blood thinner, although it does not actually thin the blood. Heparin will not dissolve blood clots that have already formed, but it may prevent the clots from becoming larger and causing more serious problems. |
| Infarct: | The immediate area of brain cell death caused by a stroke. When the brain cells in the infarct die, they release chemicals that set off a chain reaction that endangers brain cells in a larger surrounding area, known as the penumbra. |
| Intubate: | To put a tube into a hollow organ or passsageway, often into the airway. The opposite of intubate is extubate. |
| Ischemia: | A loss of blood flow to tissue, caused by an obstruction of the blood vessel, usually in the form of plaque stenosis or a blood clot. |
| Locked-In Syndrome: | A rare neurological disorder characterized by complete paralysis of voluntary muscles in all parts of the body (except for those that control eye movement). It may result from traumatic brain injury, vascular diseases, demyelinating diseases, or medication overdose. Individuals with locked-in syndrome are conscious and have cognitive function, but are unable to speak or move. The disorder leaves the patient completely mute and paralyzed. Communication may be possible with blinking eye movements. |
| MRI: | MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the latest and most advanced type of diagnostic scanning. MRI forms "images," or pictures, of the internal structures of the body.
MRI uses radio waves, a powerful electromagnet and a computer to view the soft tissue of the body. |
| Passy-Muir Valve: | A one-way valve that attaches to the hub of a tracheostomy tube and allows air to be directed up through the larynx and pharynx enabling speech as air passes through the vocal cords and through the oral and nasal cavities. |
| PEG Tube: | PEG: Stands for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, a surgical procedure for placing a feeding tube to feed those who cannot swallow. Local anesthesia (usually lidocaine or another spray) is used to anesthetize the throat. An endoscope (a flexible, lighted instrument) is passed through the mouth, throat and esophagus to the stomach. The surgeon then makes a small incision (cut) in the skin of the abdomen and pushes an intravenous cannula (an IV tube) through the skin into the stomach and sutures (ties) it in place. |
| Pons: | A part of the hindbrain that, with other brain structures, controls respiration and regulates heart rhythms. The pons is a major route by which the forebrain sends information to and receives information from the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system. |
| Stroke: | The third largest cause of death in America, stroke is an impeded blood supply to the brain. It can be caused by a blood clot forming in a blood vessel, a rupture of the blood vessel wall, an obstruction of flow caused by a clot or other material, or by pressure on a blood vessel (as by a tumor). Deprived of oxygen, which is carried by blood, nerve cells in the affected area cannot function and die. Thus, the part of the body controlled by those cells, cannot function either. |
| Thrombosis: | The formation of a blood clot in one of the cerebral arteries of the head or neck that stays attached to the artery wall until it grows large enough to block blood flow. |
| Tracheostomy: | A surgical operation to create an opening (stoma) into the windpipe (the trachea). The opening itself can also be called a tracheostomy. Tracheostomy may also be used for patients who require long-term support with a breathing machine (ventilator). |
| Tracheostomy Tube: | A 2- to 3-inch metal or plastic tube that keeps the stoma and trachea open. Also called a trach ("trake") tube. |