An autopsy case of amyloid angiopathy-related cerebellar hemorrhage

Koichi Okamoto1, Masakuni Amari1, Tomoyuki Iwai2

  • 1Department of Neurology, Geriatrics Research Institute and Hospital, Maebashi, Japan.

An 80-year-old man with dementia demonstrated cerebellar hemorrhage. Autopsy revealed pathology compatible with Alzheimer's disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). CAA was more prevalent in the occipital lobe than in the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes; however, amyloid-β (Aβ)-containing senile plaques were less abundant in the occipital cortex than in the other cortices. In the cerebellum, abundant CAA-involved vessels were observed in the subarachnoid space and molecular layer and to a lesser extent in the Purkinje and granule layers. On consecutive sections, Aβ1-42 immunohistochemistry revealed senile plaques and CAA-involved vessels with strong immunoreactivity whereas Aβ1-40 immunohistochemistry identfied CAA-involved vessels with strong immunoreactivity and senile plaques with weak immunoreactivity in the cerebellar cortices.

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