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Differential diagnosis
a systematic method of diagnosing a disorder
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Metal status
Psychological and behavioral functioning determined through observation and questioning
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Edema
swelling due to excess fluid
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Sclerosis
scarring; commonly seen in chronic epilepsy and long-term M.S. (multiple sclerosis)
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Multiple sclerosis (M.S.)
an autoimmune disease in which the patient's immune system attacks myelin in the brain and spinal cord, causing lesions and symptoms that shift over time and eventually lead to sclerosis.
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X-ray
- 2D structural image created by differential radiation absorption in different tissues.
- Useful for imaging skull fracture, and brain swelling.
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Computed tomography (CT) scan
- a scan that acquires large series of two-dimensional X-ray images.
- Computer processing creates a 3D image of the inside of an object.
- May be used with dye.
- Useful for quick viewing of skull fractures, stroke, bleeding, and brain swelling.
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Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (3 types)
- T1-weighting with a contrast dye
- T2- or diffusion-weighting
- Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
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TI-weighting with a control dye
- is useful for evaluating brain tumor, ischemia, hemorrhage, and infection/inflammation.
- TI-weighting without a contrast dye is useful for examining major structural anamalies.
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T2- or diffusion-weighting
- without a contrast dye
- is useful for evaluating brain tumor, ischemia, stroke, change in myelination, chronic epilepsy scarring, and edema.
- water appears bright in T2-weighted scans
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Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
- is a type of T2 diffusion weighting which makes it possible to estimate the location, orientation, and anisotropy of the brain's white matter tracts.
- the fact that water diffuses more quickly along with a white matter tract than across it used by computer algorithms to create a representation of white matter tracts from many diffusion-weighted images
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Electroencephalogram (EEG)
- using electrodes placed either above (in most cases) or below the scalp (rarely in humans), electrical activity in the brain is recorded
- useful for evaluating seizures, level of arousal, delirium, and brain death
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Position emission tomography (PET)
- PET measures metabolism by using radioactively tagged metabolic molecules that have been injected into the bloodstream
- useful for disorders that have metabolic problems, such as dementia, stroke, and brain tumor.
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Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
- MRI scanning that detects changes in blood flow in the brain to see which areas are functionally active
- useful for detecting early stroke and cognitive disorders (i.e., dementia)
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