No man alone: the rediscovery of Alois Alzheimer's original cases

In 1992 and 1997, respectively, the histological slides of Alois Alzheimer's original cases were rediscovered in Munich. This material, which has survived two world wars, was not originally kept at the Institute of Neuropathology of the University of Munich where it was found. Parviz Mehraein, head of the institute, saved anonymous neuropathological material given away by the Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Munich and the Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry. Yet it was not until Kohshiro Fujisawa [corrected] of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Neuroscience wrote a letter that the search leading to the rediscovery of Alzheimer's cases was initiated. Henry deF. Webster [corrected] of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, had mediated his contact to Munich. Histological and molecular genetic findings obtained on the tissue sections have been reported previously (Neurogenetics 1997, 1:73-80; 1998, 1:223-228). The present article summarizes the unusual history of this rediscovery and at the same time illustrates the great value of international exchange in science.