Co-occurrence of Parkinson's disease with progressive supranuclear palsy.
Parkinson's disease (PD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) are distinct neurodegenerative disorders. We describe an 81-year-old woman with 3 years of progressive gait unsteadiness, frequent falls, and mild cognitive dysfunction, all considered clinically to be an early fronto-temporal neurodegenerative disorder. She died of an acute myocardial infarction. Examination of her brain revealed alpha-synuclein- and tau-positive inclusions diagnostic of PD and PSP. Immunoelectron microscopy and Western blot analysis confirmed combined PD/PSP. This case provides strategies for the reliable molecular validation of concomitant PD and PSP, and demonstrates the utility of these techniques in patients with atypical clinical presentations.
Judkins
Alexander R
AR
Division of Neuropathology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.
Forman
Mark S
MS
Uryu
Kunihiro
K
Hinkle
David A
DA
Asbury
Arthur K
AK
Lee
Virginia M-Y
VM
Trojanowski
John Q
JQ
D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D016631:Lewy Bodies / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016501:Neurites / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000378:metabolism; D013494:Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D051843:Synucleins; D019680:Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion / Q000235:genetics; D051844:alpha-Synuclein; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms; C497604:SNCA protein, human; D051843:Synucleins; D051844:alpha-Synuclein; D016875:tau Proteins