Conclusion
Examining a large tissue volume increased the sensitivity of detecting AS accumulation in the GI tract.
Methods
Nine patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) or idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep disorder (iRBD) who underwent GI operation and had full-depth intestinal blocks were included. All patients were selected from our previous study population. A total of 10 slides (5 serial sections from the proximal and distal blocks) per patient were analyzed.
Objective
This study aimed to evaluate whether a larger tissue volume increases the sensitivity of detecting alpha-synuclein (AS) pathology in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
Results
In previous studies, pathologic evaluation revealed phosphorylated AS (+) in 5/9 patients (55.6%) and in 1/5 controls (20.0%); in this extensive examination, this increased to 8/9 patients (88.9%) but remained the same in controls (20.0%). The severity and distribution of positive findings were similar between patients with iRBD and PD.