Diagnosis:
- A debatable neurodegenerative condition. Considered a tauopathy.
Pathology:
- Argyrophilic grains (silver staining grains by Gallyas silver iodide method) in neuropil of the cortex of elderly patients with cognitive symptoms. Shape: spindle shaped, rod-like, button-like or round bodies.
- Ballooned neurons (a nonspecific finding, silver negative) & coiled bodies in oligodendrocytes (a nonspecific finding) also occur.
- Commonly occur in: entorhinal cortex, hippocampus CA1 area, amygdala and neighbouring temporal cortex
- Commonly associated with other pathologies e.g. Alzheimers disease, Pick’s disease, progressive supranuclear palsy PSP, corticobasal degeneration, CJD, Lewy body disease, Parkinson’s disease with dementia
Immunohistochemistry:
- Argyrophilic grains & coiled bodies in oligodendrocytes are tau positive
- Ballooned neurons are B-crystallin positive
Clinical:
Mainly memory impairment.
Behaviour abnormalities, mood changes