Alzheimer病の大脳白質病変

病理組織学的および定量的検討

抄録

White matter lesions of the brain in seven patients with Alzheimer's disease have been studied microscopically and quantitatively. All the seven autopsy cases presented more or less lesions of white matter, which the most important change was an appearance of myelin pallor. Histopathologically, the common findings were the diminution and the degeneration of myelins as well as axons, while the fibrous gliosis was mild.
In order to substantiate the microscopic findings me ntioned above, present author has performed a quantitative study in five of the seven cases, in which the number and the diameter of myelinated axons were measured per 2500μ² and compared with those of the control subjects. As the results, it was revealed that the proportion of the number of myelinated axons in Alzheimer's disease to that in the controls was a ratio of 0.43 and also that the diameters of them were significantly longer in Alzheimer's disease than in the controls.
In conclusion, white matter lesion, especially myelin pallor, is found in many cases of Alzheimer's disease and it is considered as one of the significant findings in Alzheimer's disease in the neuropathological view point.