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Spinal cord vascular and leptomeningeal amyloid β-protein deposition in a case with cerebral amyloid angiopathy

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Summary

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is characterized by the deposition of amyloid fibrils on leptomeningeal and cortical blood vessels, and the incidence of this disorder increases with age. However, this form of vascular amyloid deposition rarely involves tissues outside of the brain. A 71-year-old woman first developed some deterioration in memory, and soon afterwards suffered from recurrent episodes of subcortical hemorrhage. Histopathological examination of this case revealed typical pathology of Alzheimer's disease with an extensive appearance of β-protein type CAA, and additionally, the spinal leptomeningeal vessels and the pia-arachnoid membranes were also affected by amyloid β-protein deposits. The spinal cord involvement associated with CAA and Alzheimer's disease is unusual, and the present case provides additional important information on the pathogenesis of disorders with β-protein deposition including Alzheimer's disease.

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Supported by a grant from the Intractable Disease Division, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Primary Amyloidosis Research Committee and a grant-in-aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan

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Tokuda, T., Ikeda, S., Maruyama, K. et al. Spinal cord vascular and leptomeningeal amyloid β-protein deposition in a case with cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Acta Neuropathol 84, 207–210 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00311397

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00311397

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