Incrustação ferruginosa de neurônios nos infartos cerebrais

Abstract

The study of the ferruginated neurons in the analysis of 87 cases of cerebral infarcts is reported. The lesion found in 40,3% of the cases was demonstrared to contain iron and calcium. It was found to be more frequent in older patients and predominantly in the cortical necrotic areas. The minerals were also detected in basophilic granules found outside the cells in the necrotic tissue. There was no correlation with the basic disease, although in 17% of the cases there was an association with sickling of the red blood cells. The role of the mineral content of the nervous tissue in the pathogenesis of the incrustation is discussed. The demonstration of other minerals besides the iron in the cells makes the term "mineralization of neurons" more acceptable.