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Degenerative and Metabolic Brain Diseases

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Keeling's Fetal and Neonatal Pathology

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Abstract

Neurodegenerative diseases are rare in childhood. Most of them result from disturbances in the metabolism of energy, lipids, amino acids or metals. Symptoms may not appear before childhood or adolescence, but some are fatal in utero or in the neonatal period; they form the core of this overview. Before starting a postmortem examination, clinical and radiological findings should be obtained, because they may yield important diagnostic clues. Neuropathologically, a useful starting point is to establish whether the gray or the white matter is primarily affected. Microscopically, the neuropathological features can be diagnostic for a certain disease, but in most cases additional biochemical, genetic and molecular studies are required to come to a final diagnosis.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Pathology Eastern Netherlands, Hengelo, The Netherlands

    C. Jansen

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  1. C. Jansen
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Correspondence to C. Jansen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pathology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Adelaide, North Adelaide, SA, Australia

    T. Yee Khong

  2. Histopathology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK

    Roger D. G. Malcomson

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Jansen, C. (2022). Degenerative and Metabolic Brain Diseases. In: Khong, T.Y., Malcomson, R.D.G. (eds) Keeling's Fetal and Neonatal Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84168-3_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84168-3_29

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