[Pathogenesis and etiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (clinico-morphological research)]

The authors describe a 22-year-long course of lateral amyotrophic sclerosis; 14 of these years the patient was maintained by artificial ventilation of the lungs. Total paralysis was associated with intact consciousness and the function of the eye-moving muscles. According to morphological findings the death of motoneurons of the spinal cord and brain stem, as well as of corticospinal tracts was combined with signs of slowly progressive inflammatory process. Virus-like inclusions detected in the cytoplasm of neurons and astrocytes point to a possible infectious nature of the disease.