Histochemical, Electron Microscopic and X-ray Microanalytic Studies of Pseudomelanosis Cerebelli
Abnormal pigments in the cerebellum of a patient with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease were examined histochemically, electron microscopically and X-ray microanalytically. The pigments, which were 2 to 10 microns in diameter and bright brown in color, were observed in astrocytes and Bergmann glia which had proliferated in the dentate nucleus and cerebellar cortex. Morphologically and elementally they were different from calcification, ferrugination, neuromelanin, lipofuscin and melanosis coli pigments. They were presumed to be an intermediate between neuromelanin and lipofuscin occurring in senility and composed mainly of proteinaceous compounds containing sulfur and chlorine. The term "pseudomelanosis cerebelli" was proposed for this abnormality.
