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Introduction to Basic Neuropathology

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Textbook of Neurointensive Care

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Abstract

A basic understanding of nervous system pathology is integral to providing high-quality, safe, evidence-based care to patients with neurological diseases. This is particularly important in the field of critical care medicine. Although the manner in which disorders may affect the brain and spinal cord is quite varied (as are clinical and radiologic manifestations of disease), special structural features of the central nervous system give rise to unique patterns of vulnerability that produce reproducible morphologic patterns of neuropathology. Some types of pathological changes are unique to the nervous system such as demyelination and neurodegeneration, while others, such as trauma, neoplasms, and vascular diseases that occur elsewhere in the body, will have characteristic structural and functional effects on the brain and spinal cord. This chapter will cover basic reactions of the central nervous system to injury and then review some typical anatomic patterns of CNS disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, 100265, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA

    Anthony T. Yachnis MD

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  1. Anthony T. Yachnis MD
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Correspondence to Anthony T. Yachnis MD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania, USA

    A Joseph Layon

  2. Departments of Anesthesiology & Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    Andrea Gabrielli

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    William A. Friedman

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Yachnis, A.T. (2013). Introduction to Basic Neuropathology. In: Layon, A., Gabrielli, A., Friedman, W. (eds) Textbook of Neurointensive Care. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5226-2_6

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