Localized Cell Destruction and Degenerative Processes in the Brain in Idiopathic Epilepsy.

Abstract

This study is based on 4 brains from patients which were diagnosed as typical cases of idiopathic epilepsy. Celloidin sections were made through the region of the third ventricle and stained with iron-hematoxylin and iron-hematoxylin and neutral red. There is a marked localized distention of the third ventricle from the optic chiasma to the mammillary bodies and extending dorsad to the intermediate commissure of the thalamus. This distortion is due to a shrinkage of tissue in the lateral walls of the ventricle. There is a marked hyperemia confined to the region of the third ventricle.

The following cell groups are affected:

(1) The substantia grisea of the third ventricle is composed normally of small rather closely packed nerve cells in the lateral wall of the ventricle from the optic chiasma to the mammillary bodies and extending upward to the thalamus. These cells mingle laterally with those of the mammillo-infundibular nucleus. In all of the 4 brains studied there is a marked bilateral reduction in the number of cells in this group. Many of the remaining cells show various stages of chromatolysis. There is a marked proliferation of glia cells in some areas. A shrinkage in this cell mass is largely responsible for the distention of the third ventricle.

The following cell groups are affected:

(1) The substantia grisea of the third ventricle is composed normally of small rather closely packed nerve cells in the lateral wall of the ventricle from the optic chiasma to the mammillary bodies and extending upward to the thalamus. These cells mingle laterally with those of the mammillo-infundibular nucleus. In all of the 4 brains studied there is a marked bilateral reduction in the number of cells in this group.