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Hypertensive encephalopathy (HE) is general brain dysfunction due to significantly high blood pressure. [3] Symptoms may include headache, vomiting, trouble with balance, and confusion. [1] Onset is generally sudden. [1] Complications can include seizures, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, and bleeding in the back of the eye. [1] [3]
Severe cerebral hypoxia can also cause seizures, which put the patient at risk of self-injury, and various anti-convulsant drugs may need to be administered before treatment. [citation needed] There has long been a debate over whether newborn infants with cerebral hypoxia should be resuscitated with 100% oxygen or normal air. [27]
Hypoxia can be due to external causes, when the breathing gas is hypoxic, or internal causes, such as reduced effectiveness of gas transfer in the lungs, reduced capacity of the blood to carry oxygen, compromised general or local perfusion, or inability of the affected tissues to extract oxygen from, or metabolically process, an adequate supply ...
Tissue hypoxia refers to low levels of oxygen in the tissues of the body and the term hypoxia is a general term for low levels of oxygen. [2] Hypoxemia is usually caused by pulmonary disease whereas tissue oxygenation requires additionally adequate circulation of blood and perfusion of tissue to meet metabolic demands.
Severe drops in blood pressure can lead to fainting, with a possibility of injury. Moderate drops in blood pressure can cause confusion/inattention, delirium, and episodes of ataxia. Chronic orthostatic hypotension is associated with cerebral hypoperfusion that may accelerate the pathophysiology of dementia. [5]
Causes that may contribute to the development of PRES are: immunosuppression (especially for organ transplantation, e.g. with tacrolimus), severe infection and/or sepsis, chemotherapy, autoimmune disease, and pre-eclampsia. High blood pressure is often present.
Elderly patients with marked cerebral atrophy, and secondary widened subarachnoid CSF spaces, can also cause confusion on CT. To distinguish chronic subdural hygromas from simple brain atrophy and CSF space expansion, a gadolinium-enhanced MRI can be performed.
Acute hypocapnia causes hypocapnic alkalosis, which causes cerebral vasoconstriction leading to cerebral hypoxia, and this can cause transient dizziness, fainting, and anxiety. [3] A low partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the blood also causes alkalosis (because CO 2 is acidic in solution), leading to lowered plasma calcium ions ...