Glossary

Periventricular leukomalacia. A white-matter brain injury seen in infants that is characterized by the periventricular (lateral ventricles) necrosis (usually coagulative) of white matter. Subsequent coalescence leads to porencephaly. Commonly seen in children with cerebral palsy, it is a marker for a brain injury occurring early in the third trimester.

Perfusion weighted imaging- A variety of MRI techniques used to measure blood flow and volume within the brain and generate maps about this perfusion of blood within the brain.

Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma – a rare glial tumor occurring mostly in the supratentorial brain and having a very indolent behavior.

Quality Of Life

RApid Gradient Echo is a echo gradient MRI sequence used for a wide range of applications including angiography and perfusion techniques.

A clinical assessment tool designed to define the degree of disability present after a stroke or other neurologic injury.  The scale runs from 0-6 with 0=no disability and 6=dead.  1-2 is a mild disability, 3-4 a moderate disability and 5 a severe disability,.

sirolimus (Trade name Rapamune) – a mTOR pathway inhibitor that suppresses the growth of SEGAs.

reticular activating system or reticular system – the system within the brain responsible for arousal. It consists of the reticular formation within the midbrain and its connections to modulating relays going through the hypothalamus and thalamus to the cortex of the cerebrum.

Red blood cell (aka erythrocyte).  The predominant cell in blood whose main function is to carry oxygen from the lungs throughout the body.

Recombinant: Refers to genetic material (DNA, RNA, protein, etc.), cell or organism that results from the combination of DNA segments from different organisms.