title: The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). Part X. Neuropathology confirmation of the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: This report summarizes the neuropathologic findings in the first 106 autopsies of CERAD (Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease) dementia patients diagnosed clinically as having Alzheimer's disease (AD). In 92 (87%) of the 106 cases, neuropathologists confirmed Alzheimer's disease (AD) as the primary dementing illness. Coexistent Parkinson's disease (PD) changes were present in 19 (21%) and vascular lesions of varying nature and size in 26 (28%) of these 92 AD cases. The 14 cases in which AD was not interpreted as the primary dementing illness can be divided into four major subgroups based on their neuropathology findings: PD and related pathology (n = 5), hippocampal sclerosis (n = 3), miscellaneous neurodegenerative and other disorders (n = 3), and no significant changes (n = 3). Despite the relatively high level of clinical diagnostic accuracy, further refinement of assessment batteries may facilitate distinction of non-AD dementias from AD.
authors.affiliation: Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gearing
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Mirra
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hedreen
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sumi
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heyman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries