Juvenile Parkinson's disease with widespread Lewy bodies in the brain

Summary A clinico-pathological case report on a case of juvenile Parkinson's disease (JPD) with widespread Lewy bodies (LBs) in the brain is presented with comparative morphological studies on two demented cases of classical Parkinson's disease (CPD) with disease onset at an older age. The clinical and histological pictures of this JPD case were typical of Parkinson's disease, excepting numerous Lewy bodies in the cerebrum. There were no neurofibrillary change nor senile plaques throughout the CNS. The distribution and histochemical and ultrastructural characters of the histological lesions (i.e., LBs) in the JPD and the two CPD cases were investigated and compared. The comparison showed no qualitative but only quantitative differences between the two types of Parkinson's disease. The present study also revealed that in CPD cases significant numbers of LBs could be present in the cerebral cortex, amygdaloid and claustrum. These lesions can be in part responsible for dementia in CPD.