Figure 3 Additional neuropathologic findings in cortices of patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO)
Pathologic findings in the cortex (illustrated in this figure for 3 individual patients with NMO) included astrogliosis and scattered focal red and/or pyknotic neurons. Cortices from patients 1 (A, B) and 2 (C, D) show numerous red neurons (arrows in [A] and [C], respectively) and astrocytosis involving the interlaminar astrocytes (arrowheads in [B] and [D], respectively). The cortex from patient 3 (E-H) shows pyknotic neurons (arrows in [E]) on a background of profound astrogliosis (arrowheads in [E]) in all layers of the cortex (E, G). Despite these changes, the myelin (F) and aquaporin-4 (AQP4) (H) are preserved. (A-E, G) Hematoxylin-eosin. (F) Proteolipid protein. (H) AQP4. (A) Scale bar = 100 μm. (B-H) Scale bar = 50 μm.