Cortical degeneration with swollen chromatolytic neurons: Its relationship to pick’s disease

A. W. Clark, H. J. Manz, C. L. White, J. Lehmann, D. Miller, J. T. Coyle

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

90 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report two cases of dementia in which cortical degeneration with widespread swollen chromatolytic neurons (SCN) was the dominant pathologic feature. Each patient had received the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease on the basis of clinical findings. There was no deficit of cortical choline acetyltransferase activity, assayed in one case, or lesions of the nucleus basalis of Meynert. The brains had moderate to marked frontal atrophy. Comparison of SCN with several other cerebral degenerative disorders indicates a similarity with certain features of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and with corticodentatonigral degeneration. The pathologic features of our cases are those of a number of other cases reported as “Pick’s disease,” and may represent an earlier stage in the pathogenetic process than the severe, sharply circumscribed atrophy with “nonspecific” cell loss and gliosis as the only microscopic residuals. Our findings re-emphasize the need to search for patho-genetically distinct subgroups which have been wholly or partially subsumed into the concept of Pick's disease.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)268-284
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of neuropathology and experimental neurology
Volume45
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1986

Keywords

  • Cerebral cortex
  • Chromatolysis, neuronal
  • Dementia
  • Neurons
  • Pick’s disease

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pathology and Forensic Medicine
  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

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