Lateralized Cortical Involvement and Contralateral Parkinsonism without Basal Ganglia Involvement in Two Autopsy Cases of Corticobasal Syndrome-Alzheimer's Disease

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Homma, Taku^{a; d; e; *} | Takubo, Hideki^c | Takahashi, Kazushi^b | Matsubara, Shiro^b | Takahashi, Manabu^d | Funata, Nobuaki^{d; f} | Mochizuki, Yoko^{a; h} | Mizutani, Toshio^a | Komori, Takashi^a | Uchihara, Toshiki^{a; g}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Neurological Hospital, Tokyo, Japan | [b] Department of Neurology, Tokyo Metropolitan Neurological Hospital, Tokyo, Japan | [c] Department of Neurology, Ebara Hospital, Tokyo, Japan | [d] Department of Pathology, Ebara Hospital, Tokyo, Japan | [e] Department of Pathology, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan | [f] Department of Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital, Tokyo, Japan | [g] Laboratory of Structural Neuropathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan | [h] Department of Neurology, Tokyo Metropolitan Kita Medical and Rehabilitation Center, Tokyo, Japan

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Taku Homma, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Neurological Hospital, 2-6-1 Musashi-dai, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-0042, Japan. Tel.: +81 42 323 5110; Fax: +81 42 322 6219; E-mail: homma.taku@gmail.com.

Abstract: Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is characterized by lateralized motor disturbance due to levodopa nonresponsive parkinsonism and progressive apraxia. Although CBS is neuropathologically heterogeneous, it remains unclear whether the clinical features of all CBS cases are the same. We report two autopsy cases diagnosed clinically as CBS and pathologically as Alzheimer's disease characterized by lateralized cerebral cortical degeneration and absence of significant nigrostriatial lesions. Cerebral cortical degeneration in both cases was contralateral to their motor disturbances. Thus, nigrostriatial lesions and contralateral cerebral cortical lesions can cause motor disturbances in CBS, necessitating the need for bedside examination in patients with CBS.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, cerebral cortex, corticobasal syndrome, parkinsonism, striatonigral system

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-131676

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 51-55, 2014