Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleeding, such as cerebral, ovarian or
pituitary
In vertebrate anatomy, the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland, about the size of a chickpea and weighing, on average, in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. The hypop ...
.
Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic".
Historical meaning
From the late 14th to the late 19th century,
[''OED Online'', 2010, Oxford University Press. 7 February 2011] ''apoplexy'' referred to any sudden death that began with a sudden loss of consciousness, especially one in which the victim died within a matter of seconds after losing consciousness. The word ''apoplexy'' was sometimes used to refer to the symptom of sudden loss of consciousness immediately preceding death. Ruptured
aortic aneurysm
An aortic aneurysm is an enlargement (dilatation) of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times normal size. They usually cause no symptoms except when ruptured. Occasionally, there may be abdominal, back, or leg pain. The prevalence of abdominal aortic ...
s, and even
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
s and
stroke
A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
s were referred to as apoplexy in the past, because before the advent of
medical science
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...
, there was limited ability to differentiate abnormal conditions and diseased states. Although
physiology
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
as a medical field dates back at least to the time of
Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
, until the late 19th century physicians often had inadequate or inaccurate understandings of many of the human body's normal functions and abnormal presentations. Hence, identifying a specific cause of a symptom or of death often proved difficult or impossible.
Hemorrhage
Because the term by itself is now ambiguous, it is often coupled with a descriptive
adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Tra ...
to indicate the site of bleeding. For example, bleeding within the
pituitary gland
In vertebrate anatomy, the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland, about the size of a chickpea and weighing, on average, in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. The ...
is called ''
pituitary apoplexy
Pituitary apoplexy is bleeding into or impaired blood supply of the pituitary gland. This usually occurs in the presence of a tumor of the pituitary, although in 80% of cases this has not been diagnosed previously. The most common initial sympto ...
'', and bleeding within the adrenal glands can be called ''adrenal apoplexy''.
Apoplexy also includes hemorrhaging with the gland and accompanying neurological problems such as confusion, headache, and impairment of consciousness.
See also
*
Transient ischemic attack
A transient ischemic attack (TIA), commonly known as a mini-stroke, is a minor stroke whose noticeable symptoms usually end in less than an hour. TIA causes the same Symptoms of stroke, symptoms associated with strokes, such as weakness or numbn ...
References
External links
*
* {{wikisource inline, list=
** {{cite journal , last=Black , first=James Rush , date=6 April 1875 , title=
Apoplexy
Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...
, journal=Popular Science Monthly , volume=6
** {{cite EB1911 , last=Mott , first= Frederick Walker , wstitle=Apoplexy , volume=2 , pages=195–196 , noicon=x , short=x
Pathology
Causes of death
Bleeding
Obsolete medical terms
es:Apoplejía
it:Apoplessia