Abstract

Case Report

A sporadic case of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease with beta-amyloid deposits and alpha-synuclein inclusions

Anne Vital,11Neuropathology Department, Victor Segalen – Bordeaux 2 University, Bordeaux,Anne Vital, MD, PhD, Laboratoire de Neuropathologie BP 42, Université Victor Segalen, Bordeaux 2, 146, rue Léo-Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. Email: anne.vital@chu-bordeaux.fr Marie-Hélène Canron,11Neuropathology Department, Victor Segalen – Bordeaux 2 University, Bordeaux, Roger Gil,22Neurology Department, Poitiers University, Poitiers and Jean-Jacques Hauw33Neuropathology Department, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France and Claude Vital11Neuropathology Department, Victor Segalen – Bordeaux 2 University, Bordeaux, 1Neuropathology Department, Victor Segalen – Bordeaux 2 University, Bordeaux, 2Neurology Department, Poitiers University, Poitiers and 3Neuropathology Department, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France
Anne Vital, MD, PhD, Laboratoire de Neuropathologie BP 42, Université Victor Segalen, Bordeaux 2, 146, rue Léo-Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. Email: anne.vital@chu-bordeaux.fr
Abstract
Neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by the correlation of clinical symptoms and neuropathological changes in the brain. However, overlaps between distinct entities are becoming more and more evident. We report the coexistence of Alzheimer pathology and alpha-synuclein inclusions in a sporadic, methionine/valine type 1, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) case. There were neurofibrillary changes in the neocortex and beta amyloid cerebral angiopathy was marked. Several Lewy bodies were present in the substantia nigra, locus ceruleus and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, and alpha-synuclein cytoplasmic inclusions were also found in cortical neurons. These findings raise the debated relationship between Parkinson’s disease with dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and a Lewy body variant of Alzheimer disease. Among the factors that may have contributed to this considerable morphological overlap are the patient’s age (79 years at autopsy) and the over 2-year duration of the disease. As the average disease duration in sporadic methionine/valine type 1 CJD is less than 6 months, it seems legitimate to speculate that the initial symptoms resulted from Alzheimer and alpha-synuclein related pathologies. This observation shows that CJD can be present in elderly patients who are suspected of having other neurodegenerative diseases, which could underline the importance of neuropathology-based surveillance systems.


http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi...9.2007.00755.x


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