A 65-year-old man with end-stage idiopathic Parkinson’s disease dies. His family donates his brain for
research purposes.
Which characteristic histopathological structures are you most likely to find?
A Amyloid plaques
B Cerebral arterial atherosclerosis
C Cytoplasmic inclusion bodies
D Lewy bodies (Correct)
E Neuronal inclusion bodies
Lewy bodies are characteristic in
Parkinson’s disease
Corticobasal degeneration
Progressive supranuclear palsy
Motor neuron disease and
Ataxia telangiectasia.
Answer A is incorrect because amyloid plaques are characteristic in Alzheimer’s dementia.
Answer B is incorrect because cerebral arterial atherosclerosis usually leads to small vessel disease and multiinfarct dementia.
Answer C is incorrect because cytoplasmic inclusion bodies are characteristically found in multi-system atrophy
(MSA).
Answer E is incorrect because neuronal inclusion bodies are found in Pick’s disease and fronto-temporal
dementia.