Absence of septum pellucidum and polymicrogyria: a forme fruste of the porencephalic syndrome.

Two cases are presented of absence of the septum pellucidum associated with bilateral polymicrogyria. In one case a circumscribed, completely enclosed cavity was present in the white matter of one cerebral hemisphere, different in structure from typical prenatal porencephaly. It is suggested that these cases represent a "forme fruste" of the syndrome of absent septum, bilateral porencephaly, polymicrogyria and heterotopia and may be ascribed to a similar, if less severe, encephaloclastic process of debatable etiology, operating around the midterm of pregnancy.

Involvement of choroid plexuses in neurosarcoidosis.

A 43-year-old woman, known to have suffered from chronic multisystem sarcoidosis since the age of 28, developed a posterior fossa mass and obstructive hydrocephalus 2 years before death. At autopsy she was found to have hydrocephalus involving all four ventricles, mass lesions in the brain stem and cerebellum, and severe involvement of the choroid plexuses. The optic nerves and chiasm were also infiltrated with granulomas.

Reaction of Lewy bodies with antibodies to phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated neurofilaments.

The reaction of Lewy bodies in the substantia nigra and the sympathetic ganglia was studied in 10 cases of Parkinson's disease and other Lewy body-related conditions, using monoclonal antibodies to non-phosphorylated (02-40) and phosphorylated (03-44 and 07-5) neurofilaments. Although many Lewy bodies were unstained, a peripheral ring of positive immunoreactivity was frequently observed. This reaction was more common and more intense with antibodies to phosphorylated neurofilaments, suggesting a posttranslational phosphorylation of elements in the Lewy body.

Prenatal porencephaly: the pattern of secondary lesions.

Two cases of prenatal porencephaly in young adults are reported with the aim of studying retrograde and trans-synaptic degeneration and comparing the findings with similar situations developing postnatally. The thalamic nuclei with cortical projections and the nuclei of the basal forebrain complex showed hypoplasia rather than typical retrograde degeneration, while the locus ceruleus was unaffected. The nuclei pontis and the cerebellum were essentially normal in spite of severe loss of corticopontine fibers.

Histologic distribution of staining by a monoclonal antibody (psi-3) in psoriasis and occurrence of psi-3 antigen in other cutaneous diseases.

psi-3 is a monoclonal antibody that recognizes a 135,000 molecular weight structural component of maturing keratinocytes in psoriasis (the psi-3 antigen) but fails to bind to any constituent of keratinocytes in normal epidermis. This paper describes the occurrence of the psi-3 antigen in a variety of dermatopathologic conditions using immunoperoxidase (biotin-avidin-peroxidase) and immunofluorescence methods which show excellent concordance. In 35 of 36 specimens of psoriasis vulgaris, psi-3 antibody consistently immunolabels the cytoplasm of keratinocytes above the basal layer.