Rich focus
Encyclopedia
A Rich focus is a tuberculous
granuloma
occurring on the cortex
of the brain that ruptures into the subarachnoid space
, causing tuberculous meningitis
.
It is named for Arnold Rice Rich
who first described it.
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
granuloma
Granuloma
Granuloma is a medical term for a tiny collection of immune cells known as macrophages. Granulomas form when the immune system attempts to wall off substances that it perceives as foreign but is unable to eliminate. Such substances include infectious organisms such as bacteria and fungi as well as...
occurring on the cortex
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...
of the brain that ruptures into the subarachnoid space
Subarachnoid space
In the central nervous system, the subarachnoid cavity is the interval between the arachnoid membrane and pia mater....
, causing tuberculous meningitis
Tuberculous meningitis
Tuberculous meningitis is also known as TB meningitis or tubercular meningitis.Tuberculous meningitis is Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection of the meninges—the system of membranes which envelops the central nervous system. It is the most common form of CNS tuberculosis.-Clinical features:Fever...
.
It is named for Arnold Rice Rich
Arnold Rice Rich
-Career:Born March 28 1893 in Birmingham, Alabama, Arnold Rich attended the University of Virginia, majoring in biology, and then, fatefully, went to the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland from which he received his M.D. degree in 1919. He remained associated with Hopkins the rest...
who first described it.