Fast-track neuropathological screening for neurodegenerative diseases

Englert, Benjamin ; Roeber, Sigrun; Arzberger, Thomas; Ruf, Viktoria; Windl, Otto und Herms, Jochen (2024): Fast-track neuropathological screening for neurodegenerative diseases. In: Free Neuropathology, Bd. 5, 16

Abstract

Background: The postmortem diagnostic of individuals having suffered presumptive neurodegenerative disease comprises exclusion of a prion disease, extensive brain sampling and histopathological evaluation, which are resource-intensive and time consuming. To exclude prion disease and to achieve prompt accurate preliminary diagnosis, we developed a fast-track procedure for the histopathological assessment of brains from patients with suspected neurodegenerative disease.

Methods: Based on the screening of two brain regions (frontal cortex and cerebellum) with H&E and six immunohistochemical stainings in 133 brain donors, a main histopathological diagnosis was established and compared to the final diagnosis made after a full histopathological work-up according to our brain bank standard procedure.

Results: In over 96 % of cases there was a concordance between the fast-track and the final main neuropathological diagnosis. A prion disease was identified in four cases without prior clinical suspicion of a prion infection.

Conclusion: The fast-track screening approach relying on two defined, easily accessible brain regions is sufficient to obtain a reliable tentative main diagnosis in individuals with neurodegenerative disease and thus allows for a prompt feedback to the physicians. However, a more thorough histological work-up taking into account the clinical history and the working diagnosis from fast-track screening is necessary for accurate staging and for assessment of co-pathologies.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin > Institut für Neuropathologie ; Medizin > Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy) ; Medizin > Institut für Schlaganfall- und Demenzforschung (ISD) ; Medizin > Klinikum der LMU München > Klinik und Poliklink für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 2699-4445
• Sprache: Englisch
• DFG: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 390857198