title: Cortical and amygdalar Lewy body burden in Parkinson's disease patients with visual hallucinations.
abstract: Visual hallucinations (VH) are among the most common non-motor complications of Parkinson's disease (PD). A few studies on their etiopathogenesis have suggested involvement of cortical and amygdalar areas. In order to investigate the possible association between extranigral Lewy Body (LB) distribution across cortical and amygdalar regions and the presence of VH in PD brain donors, we conducted a clinico-pathological comparison of 10 PD patients with VH vs 10 closely matched PD patients without VH. The LB burden was significantly higher across the amygdala and the frontal, temporal and parietal cortical areas in patients with VH. Although our results suggest significant extranigral involvement, the precise etiopathologic mechanisms responsible for the development of VH need further clarification.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, 1501 NW 9th Avenue (NPF), Room 4004, Miami, FL 33136, USA. spapapetropoulos@med.miami.edu
authors.forename: Spiridon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papapetropoulos
authors.forename: Donald S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: McCorquodale
authors.forename: Jocely
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jean-Gilles
authors.forename: Deborah C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Mash
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000679:Amygdala / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D016631:Lewy Bodies / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*