List of Neurological Disorders

This list of neurological disorders is categorized based on the site of involvement of the individual diseases. The different areas of the nervous system include brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, muscle, NMJ (neuromuscular junction) etc.

Certain conditions may affect multiple regions so you may see the same disease again & again under several headings. For example you will come across MS (multiple sclerosis) under cerebral hemispheres, brain stem, cerebellum, spinal cord etc because this condition can involve all these above mentioned regions of the nervous system (of course not necessarily all these areas in the same patient). Strokes, tumors etc are few other such examples for neurological disorders that can involve multiple sites within the nervous system.

Neurological disorders of the meninges (coverings of brain & spine)

* Meningitis

• Infectious/inflammatory meningitis: bacterial, viral, TB, fungal
• Drug or chemical induced
• Carcinomatous meningitis: cancer spread to meninges e.g. lung cancer

* Tumors: meningioma
* Meningeal cysts/ arachnoid cyst

Neurological Disorders of the nerve fiber covering

* Tarlov cysts

Neurological Disorders of the brain tissue

Brain hemisphere (cerebral hemisphere):

* Vascular conditions (blood vessel like artery, vein related):

• Stroke (Infarct type) - Usual type adult stroke, stroke in young, congenital stroke, lacunar stroke, multi infarct dementia, Binswanger disease, TIA (mini stroke)

• Stroke (bleeding type) - Based on the cause for bleeding: hypertension, amyloid angiopathy, vascular malformations like AVM (arteriovascular malformation), cavernoma (cavernous hemangioma), venous angioma, tumor-related etc. Based on the location of the bleeding – lobar, basal ganglial, cerebellar, brainstem bleedings

* Epilepsy (fits or seizure) disorder:

• Partial seizures: Based on the location of seizure focus - frontal/temporal/ occipital/parietal lobe seizures etc. Based on the type of symptoms; motor, sensory, autonomic, special senses, mixed etc. Based on patient’s sensorium is clear or not - simple partial & complex partial

• Generalized seizures: PGE (primary generalized epilepsy), secondary generalized, grand mal, petit mal (absence) - typical/atypical, tonic, clonic, atonic etc.

• Few special seizure syndromes or situations – gelastic seizures, benign rolandic epilepsy, JME (juvenile myoclonic epilepsy), infantile spasms (West syndrome) breakthrough seizures, reflex epilepsy, withdrawal seizures, febrile seizure, convulsive syncope (not epileptic seizures), status epilepticus

Demyelinating conditions (loss of normally formed myelin):

• MS (multiple sclerosis)
• ADEM (acute disseminated encephalomyelitis)
• PML (progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy)
• HIV encephalopathy

Dysmyelinating conditions (defective production of myelin)

• leukodystrophies e.g. metachromatic leukodystrophy, adreno leukodystrophy

* Tumors:

• Primary (e.g. gliomas, lymphoma, meningioma, chordoma)
• Secondary or metastatic tumors (e.g. spread from lungs, breast etc)
• Intra-axial (e.g. glioma)
• Extra-axial (e.g. meningioma)

*Neuro-Infections:

• Encephalitis
• Meningitis
• Brain abscess
• Lyme disease
• Neurosyphilis
• HIV (AIDS)

*Inflammatory conditions:

• Lupus
• Behcet’s syndrome
• Vasculitis

*Vascular anomalies:

• Aneurysm
• AVM
• Cavernous hemangioma
• Venous angiomas

*Degenerative/dementia/memory/cognitive issues:

• Age appropriate memory loss (controversial diagnosis)
• Benign forgetfulness
• MCI (mild cognitive impairments)
• Dementias (Alzheimer’s, DLB or dementia with Lewy bodies, , Lewy Body variant of Alzheimer’s, vascular dementias/multi infarct dementia, Binswanger type, fronto temporal type etc)>br>

• Pseudo-dementia
• Based on their nature – progressive versus non progressive, reversible versus non reversible dementias

*Traumatic brain injury or head injuries:

• Brain concussion (head concussion)
• Brain contusion
• Intracranial bleeds of various kind (subdural, epidural, subarachnoid hemorrhage)
• Skull fractures
• Cranial nerve injuries
• Post head trauma conditions - post concussion syndrome, cognitive impairments/dementias, seizures, motor, sensory deficits, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder

* Congenital:

• Congenital hydrocephalus
• Cortical dysplasias & migrational disorders
• Microcephaly
• Macrocephaly
• Cerebral palsy
• Brain gyral abnormalities – lissencephaly, pachygyria, agyria etc
• Prosencephaly
• Congenital infections (TORCH organisms)
• Arachnoid cysts

Extra pyramidal system/basal ganglia

• Idiopathic parkinsons disease
• Parkinsonian syndromes - MSA or multiple system atrophy (MSA – P type or MSA – C type; older classification - striatonigral tract degeneration, shy dragger syndrome, OPCA; PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy), CBGD (cortico basal ganglionic degeneration), DLB – Dementia with Lewy bodies

• Tremors: essential tremors, resting tremors etc
• Other movement disorders/symptoms - chorea, athetosis, choreoathetosis, ballismus, hemibalimus, tics, dystonia etc. Well defined syndromes like – Huntington disease, Tourette syndrome

• Tumors: lymphomas, gliomas, metastatic tumors
• Vascular: stroke
• Genetic disorders: Wilson disease
• Vascular anomalies: AVM, aneurysm, cavernous hemangioma
• Inflammatory disorders: lupus, Behcet’s syndrome, vasculitis

Brain stem:

• Demyelinatng diseases – MS (multiple sclerosis), ADEM
• Vascular – stroke
• Tumors - gliomas, metastatic tumors
• Motor neuron disease (ALS or amyotropic lateral sclerosis etc)
• Infection – polio, rabies
• Congenital – cavity (syrinx) formation in the brain, Dandy-Walker syndrome
• Vascular anomalies – venous angioma, AVM, aneurysm
• Inflammatory disorders - lupus, Behcet’s syndrome, vasculitis

Cerebellum

• Congenital conditions - Dandy-Walker syndrome
• Vascular – stroke
• Tumors - medullobastoma, PNET, glioma, metastatic tumors
• Demyelinatng diseases - multiple sclerosis, ADEM
• Infection - cerebellitis, abscess
• Genetic disorders - spino-cerebellar ataxias, Friedreich’s ataxia
• Vascular anomalies – AVM, aneurysm, cavernous hemangioma

Neurological Disorders involving the Ventricles & CSF (cerebrospinal fluid)

• Colloid cyst
• Hydrocephalus – normal pressure type, obstructive, non obstructive
• Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (pseudo-tumor cerebri)
• Tumors – ependymomas, choroids plexus papilloma

Neurological Disorders of Spine & Spinal cord

• Spinal stenosis
• Disc herniation (Prolapsed disc)
• Disc bulge
• Annular tear
• Radiculopathy (pinched nerve)
• Tumors - gliomas, metastatic, hemangioblastoma, neurofibromas etc
• Degenerative - motor neuron disease e.g. ALS (amyotropic lateral sclerosis), spino-cerebellar ataxias
• Demyelinating disorders: multiple sclerosis, ADEM etc
• Vitamin B12 deficiency: SCD (sub-acute combined degeneration) of spinal cord
• Cystic lesions: syringomyelia, meningocele, myelomeningocele
• Infections of spinal cord: abscess, poliomyelitis, syphilis, AIDS
• Congenital conditions: spina bifida, tethered cord syndrome c
• Spine injuries: fracture, dislocations, spinal cord damage, hematomas
• Genetic conditions: SMA (spinal muscular atrophy), Friedreich’s ataxia

Neurological Disorders of Nerves (neuropathy conditions)

• Nutritional deficiency - Vitamin B1, B6, B12, folate deficiency
• Traumatic - brachial plexopathy (Parsonage Turner syndrome), traumatic neuropathy c
• Occupational - carpal tunnel syndrome, ulnar neuropathy etc
• Metabolic - diabetic, uremic neuropathiesc
• Toxin exposure - alcoholic, mercury, lead, and manganese related neuropathies
• Genetic neuropathies – CMT (Charcoat Marie Tooth disease), Dejerine Sottas
• Immune/Inflammatory – AIDP (acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoeuropathy) or GB (Guillian Barre) syndrome, CIDP (chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy), MMNCB (multifocal motor neuropathy with conductin block), Lewis Summer syndrome

Neurological Disorders of the neuromuscular junction (the region where the nerve fibers communicate with the muscle fibers)

• Myasthenia Gravis
• LEMS (Lambert Eaton Myasthenia syndrome)
• Dug induced myasthenia
• Congenital myasthenia syndromes

Neuroloical Disorders of Muscles(myopathy)

• Injury or trauma related myopathies
• Inflammatory - polymyositis, dermatomyositis
• Hereditary (genetic) muscular dystrophies - Duchene, Becker, Facioscapulohumeral, oculo pharyngeal, myotonic dystrophy, limb girdle muscular dystrophy
• Endocrine - thyroid, parathyroid myopathies etc
• Congenital myopathies - nemaline rod, central core muscle disease

Neurological Disorders part of a systemic condition

• Polycystic kidney disease (patients can have brain aneurysm with this systemic condition)

Symptomatic Neurological Disorders or symptomatic neurological conditions

• Primary Headache syndromes (Migraine headache, Tension headache, Cluster headache, ice pick headache, trigeminovascular headache syndromes, exercise induced headache, coital headache etc), numbness, tingling sensation, vertigo, dizziness, muscle weakness/paralysis, blurring of vision/loss of vision, fatigue, speech difficulties (aphasia & dysarthrias), swallowing difficulties (dysphagias), various pain syndromes like neuralgic pain, trigeminal neuralgia, neck pain/back pain etc

List of Neurological Disorders to Neurology Articles

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