Apoplexy

Apoplexy is an old-fashioned medicalterm, generally used interchangeably with cerebrovascular accident(CVA or stroke) but having other meanings as well.

Stroke

The use of apoplexy for the term strokeis derived from the fact that many patients lose consciousnessduring the acute stage of the vascularcompromise (either through bleeding or ischemia). It is not to be confused with cataplexy(an attack of the neurological syndrome narcolepsy).

Occasionally, the term 'apoplexy' is used to describe hemorrhagingwithin other organs; in such usage, however, it is coupled with an adjectivedescribing the site of the bleeding. For example, bleeding within the kidneyscan be called renal apoplexy, or bleeding within the pituitary glandcan be called pituitary apoplexy.

Non-medical meaning

It is also used colloquially, particularly in its adjective form apoplectic, to mean furious or enraged.

See also

• Transient ischemic attackit:Apoplessia

fr:Apoplexie

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apoplexy Wikipedia article Apoplexy.