ABSTRACT
The neuropathological diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer disease (AD) is the (semi) quantitative assessment and topographical staging of neuritic plaques (NPs) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). This chapter aims to investigate the distribution of amino acid position 40 (Aß40) and at position 42 or 43 (Aß42) in leptomeningeal and intracortical arteries/arterioles, cortical capillaries and plaques, to detect possible differences in the correlation between cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), CapCAA, and AD plaque pathology, with respect to different patterns of beta-amyloid peptide (Aß) deposits. Our findings of low/no correlations between Aß40TS/Aß42TS and neuritic AD pathology argue against the possibility of one common pathomechanism for both AD pathology and non-capillary CAA. The severity of Aß40/Aß42 depositions in each leptomenigeal vessels, cortical vessels, capillaries, and plaques was assessed semiquantitatively on a four point scale, leading to an Aß40/Aß42 leptomenigeal score, Aß40/Aß42 cortical score, Aß40/Aß42 capillary score, and Aß40/Aß42 plaque score respectively.
