Syndrome, locked-in
A neurological disorder characterized by complete paralysis of voluntary muscles in all parts of the body except for those that control eye movement. The locked-in syndrome is usually a complication of a cerebrovascular accident (a stroke) in the base of the pons in the brainstem. The patient is alert and fully conscious but cannot move. Only vertical movements of the eyes and blinking are possible.
Locked-in syndrome can also be due to traumatic brain injury, demyelinating diseases (disorders in which the insulating material around brain cells is lost), and medication overdose.
There is no cure for locked-in syndrome, nor is there a standard course of treatment. Functional neuromuscular stimulation may help activate some paralyzed muscles. Several devices to help communication are available. Other treatment is symptomatic and supportive. The prognosis for those with locked-in syndrome is poor. The majority of patients do not regain function.
Read Also:
- Syndrome, Martin-Bell
Better known as the fragile X syndrome, the most common heritable form of mental retardation. Fragile X syndrome is due to mutation (changes) at the fragile X site and so perforce is X-linked (carried on the X chromosome). Although it is usually more severe in males than females, the syndrome is due to a dynamic […]
- Syndrome, MASA
lumbar lordosis (sway back). MASA is inherited as an X-linked trait and so affects mainly boys. Alternative names for MASA include clasped thumb and mental retardation, congenital clasped thumb with mental retardation, adducted thumb with mental retardation, and the Gareis-Mason syndrome.
- Syndrome, MASS
A heritable disorder of connective tissue characterized by involvement of the mitral valve, aorta, skeleton, and skin. Hence, the acronym MASS (Mitral valve, Aorta, Skeleton, Skin). The MASS syndrome is due to a mutation in the fibrillin 1 gene FBN1, the same gene as is mutated in Marfan syndrome.
- Syndrome, McKusick-Kaufman
A genetic disorder in which there is build-up of fluids (called hydrometrocolpos) in the vagina and the uterus as a result of a membrane across the vagina which holds back the cervical fluid secreted in response to the mother’s hormones during pregnancy. Boys with this disease have the opening for urine on the underside of […]
- Syndrome, MELAS
An eye disease called Leber’s hereditary optic atrophy; and A type of epilepsy called MERRF which stands for Myoclonus Epilepsy with Ragged Red Fibers. The mitochondria, as mentioned, are normal structures located outside the nucleus in the cell’s cytoplasm. Each mitochondrion has a chromosome made of DNA that is quite different from the better known […]