{{Short description|Rupture of an internal organ}} [[File:pituitary apoplexy.jpg|thumb|MRI of man with pituitary apoplexy]] '''Apoplexy''' ({{langx|grc|ἀποπληξία|translit=apoplexia|lit=a striking away}}) refers to the rupture of an internal organ and the associated symptoms. Informally or metaphorically, the term ''apoplexy'' is associated with being furious, especially as "apoplectic". Historically, it described what is now known as a hemorrhagic stroke, typically involving a ruptured blood vessel in the brain; modern medicine typically specifies the anatomical location of the bleeding, such as cerebral apoplexy, ovarian apoplexy, or pituitary apoplexy.<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=apoplexy |type=definition of |first=Melissa Conrad |last=Stöppler |url=https://www.rxlist.com/apoplexy/definition.htm |dictionary=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=OED online |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=February 7, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=apoplexy |year=2012 |encyclopedia=Collins English Dictionary |publisher=HarperCollins |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/apoplectic |via=dictionary.reference.com |access-date=May 9, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coupland |first1=A.P. |last2=Thapar |first2=A. |last3=Qureshi |first3=M.I. |last4=Jenkins |first4=H. |last5=Davies |first5=A.H. |year=2017 |title=The definition of 'stroke' |journal=J R Soc Med |volume=110 |issue=1 |pages=9–12 |doi=10.1177/0141076816680121 |pmid=28084167 |pmc=5298424 }}</ref>
==Historical meaning== From the late 14th to the late 19th century, the diagnosis ''apoplexy'' referred to any sudden death that began with abrupt loss of consciousness, especially when the victim died within seconds after losing consciousness. The word ''apoplexy'' was sometimes used to refer to the symptom of sudden loss of consciousness immediately preceding death. Strokes, ruptured aortic aneurysms, and even heart attacks were referred to as apoplexy in the past, because before the advent of biomedical science, the ability to differentiate abnormal conditions and diseased states was limited. Physiology, as a medical field, dates back at least to the time of Hippocrates, but before 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Engelhardt |first=E. |year=2017 |title=Apoplexy, cerebrovascular disease, and stroke: Historical evolution of terms and definitions |journal=Dement Neuropsychol |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=449–453 |doi=10.1590/1980-57642016dn11-040016|pmid=29354227 |pmc=5770005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bauer |first1=M. |last2=Lang |first2=C. |last3=Patzelt |first3=D. |year=2001 |title=Sudden death due to pituitary apoplexy |journal=Leg Med (Tokyo) |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=183–186 |doi=10.1016/s1344-6223(01)00026-8 |pmid=12935525 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schutta |first1=H.S. |last2=Howe |first2=H.M. |year=2006 |title=Seventeenth century concepts of "apoplexy" as reflected in Bonet's ''"sepulchretum"'' |journal=J Hist Neurosci |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=250–268 |doi=10.1080/09647040500403312}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lidell |first=J.A. |year=1873 |title=A treatise on apoplexy, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral embolism, cerebral gout, cerebral rheumatism, and epidemic cerebro-spinal meningitis |publisher=W. Wood & Company |location=New York, NY |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1nFtbqGuDVcC&pg=PR1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kleisiaris |first1=C.F. |last2=Sfakianakis |first2=C. |last3=Papathanasiou |first3=I.V. |year=2014 |title=Health care practices in ancient Greece: The Hippocratic ideal |journal=J Med Ethics Hist Med |volume=7 |page=6 |pmid=25512827 |pmc=4263393 }}</ref>
==Hemorrhage== To specify the site of bleeding, the term "apoplexy" is often accompanied by a descriptive adjective. For instance, bleeding within the pituitary gland is termed "pituitary apoplexy", and bleeding within the adrenal glands is referred to as "adrenal apoplexy".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bashari |first1=W.A. |last2=Myint |first2=Y.M.M. |last3=Win |first3=M.L. |last4=Oyibo |first4=S.O. |date=13 June 2020 |title=Adrenal insufficiency secondary to bilateral adrenal hemorrhage: A case report |journal=Cureus |volume=12 |issue=6 |article-number=e8596 |doi=10.7759/cureus.8596 |doi-access=free |pmid=32550089 |pmc=7294864}}</ref>
Apoplexy also includes hemorrhaging within the gland and accompanying neurological problems, such as confusion, headache, and impairment of consciousness.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mohr |first1=G. |last2=Hardy |first2=J. |year=1982 |title=Hemorrhage, necrosis, and apoplexy in pituitary adenomas |journal=Surg Neurol |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=181–189 |doi=10.1016/0090-3019(82)90388-3 |pmid=7179072 }}</ref>
==See also== * Abdominal apoplexy * Transient ischemic attack
==References== {{reflist|25em}}
==External links== {{Wiktionary}} * {{Wikisource inline|list= ** {{cite journal |last=Black |first=James Rush |date=6 April 1875 |title=Apoplexy |journal=Popular Science Monthly |volume=6 }} ** {{cite EB1911 |last=Mott |first=Frederick Walker |wstitle=Apoplexy |volume=2 |pages=195–196 |noicon=x |short=x}} }}
Category:Bleeding Category:Causes of death Category:Obsolete medical terms Category:Pathology