Basal ganglia lesions in corticobasal degeneration differ from those in Pick's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy: A topographic neuropathological study of six autopsy cases

Abstract

The distribution of the lesions of the basal ganglia including the striatum, pallidum and subthalamic nucleus were investigated neuropathologically in six Japanese autopsy cases of corticobasal degeneration (CBD) using routine staining including the hematoxylin‐eosin (HE) and Holzer methods. We compared the distribution of these lesions with those reported in Pick's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). The lesions were classified as mild, moderate or severe. The extent and distribution of basal ganglia lesions in all six cases was uniform: the pallidum showed severe lesions, the striatum moderate lesions, and the subthalamic nucleus mild lesions. In CBD, the degree and distribution of the lesions within the basal ganglia differed from those reported for Pick's disease and PSP; in Pick's disease the lesions of the striatum are more prominent than that of the pallidum, and in PSP the involvement of the subthalamic nucleus is more pronounced than that of the striatum. These neuropathological findings have implications for the morphological differential diagnosis among Pick's disease, CBD, and PSP.