Alzheimer disease

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The cerebral atrophy seen here mainly in the frontal and parietal regions is characterized by narrowed gyri and widened sulci. The atrophy seen here was due to senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (Alzheimer's disease).

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In this case of Alzheimer's disease, there is more marked atrophy seen superiorly and laterally, with sparing of the occipital region.

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The characteristic microscopic findings of Alzheimer's disease include "senile plaques" which are collections of degenerative presynaptic endings along with astrocytes and microglia. These plaques are best seen with a silver stain, as seen here in a case with many plaques of varying size.

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This is a neurofibrillary "tangle" of Alzheimer's disease. The tangle appears as long pink filaments in the cytoplasm. They are composed of cytoskeletal intermediate filaments.

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