In this unit we will be studying disorders of the central and peripheral nervous systems. The one over riding feature of pathology of the nervous system, especially so for the brain, is the location of the lesion. Time and again we will see that a perfectly benign tumor or seemingly minor and seemingly inconsequential injury can be devastating, if not lethal, when it occurs in a strategic location. Just as it is said of real estate, the three most important facets of a property are its location, its location and finally its location. The feature distinguishing central nervous system from other systems we have studied is the fact that the brain is a veritable prisoner within the fixed cranial vault. Edema of the brain and mass lesions have no where to go.  The pressure on surrounding structures will prove most important.  Still, as with every other organ the nervous system suffer injury from all the major categories of illness we have repeatedly visited. 

Slide 35, malignant melanoma of eye.	Slide 35, malignant melanoma of eye	Slide 38, meningioma.	Slide 38, meningioma, a higher power view.	Slide 83, aterio-venous malformation of the brain.	Slide 90, acute meningitis.
Slide 102, pituitary with histiocytosis.	Slide 102, pituitary with histiocytosis, a higher power view.	Slide 149, pituitary adenoma.	Slide 179, meinigioma	Slide 184, glioblastoma multiforme.	Slide 213, Berry aneurysm
Slide 218, metastatic cancer	Normal spinal cord	Normal cerebrum	Normal cerebellum	Normal eye	Here's a movie of a cataract removal.
					I'd like to take the quiz now.
		Interview with a Meningococcal survivor.		Nervous System Slides Overview

Mark Braun, MD braunm@indiana.edu
Copyright 1998, the Trustees of Indiana University