Abstract
Clinical and neuropathologic evidence points to the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in seven Down's syndrome patients above age 40. Dementia was observed in these patients over periods of 2.5 to 9.2 years. The first clinical sign of AD, visual memory loss, was succeeded by impaired learning capacity and decreased occupational and social functioning, and culminated in seizures and urinary incontinence. The morphometric observations of the brains of these seven patients with AD showed that the numbers of plaques and tangles exceeded 20 per 1.5 × 106 μm2 area, in both the prefrontal and hippocampal cortices. Plaques and tangles were also evident in the basal ganglia, thalamus, hypothalamus, and midbrain. In addition, we found that four of the seven brains showed small strokes, and five of the seven amyloid angiopathy. This study also indicates that by longitudinal neuropsychological evaluations and lab tests, which exclude other causes of dementia, the diagnosis of AD can be made even in severely and profoundly retarded patients.
- © 1985 by the American Academy of Neurology
Letters: Rapid online correspondence
REQUIREMENTS
You must ensure that your Disclosures have been updated within the previous six months. Please go to our Submission Site to add or update your Disclosure information.
Your co-authors must send a completed Publishing Agreement Form to Neurology Staff (not necessary for the lead/corresponding author as the form below will suffice) before you upload your comment.
If you are responding to a comment that was written about an article you originally authored:
You (and co-authors) do not need to fill out forms or check disclosures as author forms are still valid
and apply to letter.
Submission specifications:
- Submissions must be < 200 words with < 5 references. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- Submissions should not have more than 5 authors. (Exception: original author replies can include all original authors of the article)
- Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.
