National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association guidelines for the neuropathologic assessment of Alzheimer's disease: a practical approach.

Abstract

We present a practical guide for the implementation of recently revised National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association guidelines for the neuropathologic assessment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Major revisions from previous consensus criteria are: (1) recognition that AD neuropathologic changes may occur in the apparent absence of cognitive impairment, (2) an "ABC" score for AD neuropathologic change that incorporates histopathologic assessments of amyloid β deposits (A), staging of neurofibrillary tangles (B), and scoring of neuritic plaques (C), and (3) more detailed approaches for assessing commonly co-morbid conditions such as Lewy body disease, vascular brain injury, hippocampal sclerosis, and TAR DNA binding protein (TDP)-43 immunoreactive inclusions. Recommendations also are made for the minimum sampling of brain, preferred staining methods with acceptable alternatives, reporting of results, and clinico-pathologic correlations.

• Authors: Thomas J Montine, Creighton H Phelps, Thomas G Beach, Eileen H Bigio, Nigel J Cairns, Dennis W Dickson, Charles Duyckaerts, Matthew P Frosch, Eliezer Masliah, Suzanne S Mirra, Peter T Nelson, Julie A Schneider, Dietmar Rudolf Thal, John Q Trojanowski, Harry V Vinters, Bradley T Hyman, National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer’s Association
• Journal: Acta neuropathologica (Acta Neuropathol) Vol. 123 Issue 1 Pg. 1-11 (Jan 2012) ISSN: 1432-0533 [Electronic] Germany
• PMID: 22101365 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Practice Guideline, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• DNA-Binding Proteins

Topics

• Alzheimer Disease (pathology)
• Brain (pathology)
• Cerebrovascular Disorders (classification, pathology)
• Cerebrovascular Trauma (classification)
• DNA-Binding Proteins (metabolism)
• Hippocampus (pathology)
• Humans
• Lewy Body Disease (classification, pathology)
• National Institute on Aging (U.S.)
• Sclerosis (classification)
• United States