Abstract
We report the distribution of Lewy bodies in an 83-year-old man who was diagnosed histopathologically as having Parkinson's disease. Many sections were taken from the brain, spinal cord, spinal dorsal root ganglia and peripheral autonomic systems. In the central nervous system, Lewy bodies were present in many of the areas already reported by previous authors. In the peripheral nervous system, Lewy bodies were present in the sympathetic ganglia, enteric nervous system of the alimentary tract and the submandibular ganglion, which is a peripheral parasympathetic ganglion. The present case indicates that the peripheral parasympathetic ganglia are involved in the disease process of Parkinson's disease.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
den Hartog Jager WA, Bethlem J (1960) The distribution of Lewy bodies in the central and autonomic nervous systems in idiopathic paralysis agitans. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 23:283–290
Forno LS (1969) Concentric hyalin intraneuronal inclusions of Lewy type in the brains of elderly persons (50 incidental cases): relationship to parkinsonism. J Am Geriatr Soc 17:557–575
Jellinger K (1986) Overview of morphological changes in Parkinson's disease. Adv Neurol 45:1–18
Kupsky WJ, Grimes MM, Sweeting J Bertsch R, Cote LJ (1987) Parkinson's disease and megacolon: concentric hyaline inclusions (Lewy bodies) in enteric ganglion cells Neurology 37:1253–1255
Langley JN (1921) The autonomic nervous system, part I. Heffer and Sons, Cambridge
Langston JW, Forno LS (1978) The hypothalamus in Parkinson disease. Ann Neurol. 3:129–133
Ohama E, Ikuta F (1976) Parkinson's disease: distribution of Lewy bodies and monoamine neuron system. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 34:311–319
Oyanagi K, Wakabayashi K, Ohama E, Takeda S, Horikawa Y, Morita T, Ikuta (1990) Lewy bodies in the lower sacral parasympathetic neurons of a patient with Parkinson's disease. Acta Neuropathol 80:558–559
Qualman SJ, Haupt HM, Yang P, Hamilton SR (1984) Esophageal Lewy bodies associated with ganglion cell loss in achalasia. Similarity to Parkinson's disease. Gastroenterology 87:848–856
Tomonaga M (1979) On the pathological changes of hypothalamus in Parkinson's disease. Autonom Nerv (Tokyo) 16:97–102
Wakabayashi K, Takahashi H, Takeda S, Ohama E, Ikuta F (1988) Parkinson's disease: the presence of Lewy bodies in Auerbach's and Meissner's plexuses. Acta Neuropathol 76:217–221
Williams PL, Warwick R, Dyson M, Bannister LH (eds) (1989) Gray's Anatomy, 37th edn. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Takeda, S., Yamazaki, K., Miyakawa, T. et al. Parkinson's disease with involvement of the parasympathetic ganglia. Acta Neuropathol 86, 397–398 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369454
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00369454