primary lateral sclerosis

sclerosis /scle·ro·sis/ (-ro´sis) an induration or hardening, especially from inflammation and in diseases of the interstitial substance; applied chiefly to such hardening of the nervous system or to hardening of the blood vessels.

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amyotrophic lateral sclerosis  Lou Gehrig disease: progressive degeneration of the neurons that give rise to the corticospinal tract and of the motor cells of the brain stem and spinal cord, resulting in a deficit of upper and lower motor neurons; it usually has a fatal outcome within 2 to 3 years.

arterial sclerosis  arteriosclerosis.

arteriolar sclerosis  arteriolosclerosis.

diffuse cerebral sclerosis  the infantile form of metachromatic leukodystrophy.

disseminated sclerosis  multiple s.

familial centrolobar sclerosis  Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease.

glomerular sclerosis  glomerulosclerosis.

hippocampal sclerosis  loss of neurons in the region of the hippocampus, with gliosis; sometimes seen in epilepsy.

lateral sclerosis  degeneration of the lateral columns of the spinal cord, leading to spastic paraplegia. See amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and primary lateral sclerosis

Mönckeberg's sclerosis  see under arteriosclerosis.

multiple sclerosis  (MS) demyelination occurring in patches throughout the white matter of the central nervous system, sometimes extending into the gray matter; symptoms of lesions of the white matter are weakness, incoordination, paresthesias, speech disturbances, and visual complaints.

primary lateral sclerosis  a form of motor neuron disease in which the degenerative process is limited to the corticospinal pathways.

progressive systemic sclerosis  systemic scleroderma.

tuberous sclerosis  an autosomal dominant disease characterized by hamartomas of the brain (tubers), retina, and viscera; mental retardation; seizures; and adenoma sebaceum.

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primary lateral sclerosis,

a slowly progressing degenerative brain disease characterized by weakness, spasticity, hyperreflexia, and a positive Babinski sign. It involves neurons of the motor cortex but not the brainstem or spinal cord neurons. Also called spastic primary paraplegia.