Abstract

ABSTRACT: Postmortem evaluation of ten individuals with a diagnosis of Alzheimers disease (AD) confirmed the clinical diagnostic accuracy at our institution and showed significant ventricular dilatation with reduced brain mass, increased neuritic plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, vascular amyloid, and Lewy bodies in these individuals. A matched control group had no or fewer cortical neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, and two of the four control patients with rare neuritic plaques had terminal dementia. Cancer and cardiovascular disease occurred more often in the control group, but pneumonia and respiratory failure were more prevalent in the patients with AD. Thorough clinical assessment can accurately indicate Alzheimers disease, as shown in this study.