Vanishing cerebral vasculitis in a patient with Lewy pathology

Abstract

Immune-mediated mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of both cerebral vasculitis and Parkinson's disease (PD, brainstem-predominant Lewy pathology), but the presentation of cerebral vasculitis with comorbid Lewy pathology has not yet been reported. Here we present a case of pathologically confirmed vasculitis in a 73-year-old male patient whose postmortem examination revealed Lewy pathology diagnostic of PD. This case study suggests a comorbidity of cerebral vasculitis and Lewy pathology, as well as potential pathogenic interactions between these two disorders with immune-mediated mechanisms.

Keywords

vasculitis / cerebrovascular disease / Parkinson's disease / Lewy pathology / synucleinopathy / immune pathogenesis

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Robert A. Ashforth, radiologist at the University of Alberta Hospital, for his help with interpreting MR images, and Dr. Marius Meyer, family physician in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, for the patient care and providing additional clinical information.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2017 2017 by the Journal of Biomedical Research.