The post-mortem neuropathologic evaluation includes a uniform structured assessment of AD pathology, cerebral infarcts, Lewy body disease, and other pathologies common in aging and dementia. The procedures follow those outlined by the pathologic dataset recommended by the National Alzheimer's Disease Coordinating Center (NACC) [87 (link)]. Pathologic diagnoses of AD use NIA-Reagan and modified CERAD criteria, and the staging of neurofibrillary pathology uses Braak Staging [88 (link)–90 (link)]. The location, size, and age of each macroscopic infarct are recorded as described [91 ]. Microscopic infarctions are identified on H&E stained sections; Lewy bodies are identified on alpha-synuclein immunostained sections [91 ].
Counts of neuritic plaques diffuse plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles based on silver stain from five brain regions are used to create a global measure of AD pathology [70 ]. Amyloid load and the density of paired helical filament tau (PHFtau) are determined in eight brain regions and summarized [70 ].
Counts of neuritic plaques diffuse plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles based on silver stain from five brain regions are used to create a global measure of AD pathology [70 ]. Amyloid load and the density of paired helical filament tau (PHFtau) are determined in eight brain regions and summarized [70 ].
