The Wiedemann-Rautenstrauch or neonatal progeroid syndrome. Neuropathological study of a case

Abstract

Neuropathological data from the autopsy of a 5 1/2 year-old female patient with the Wiedemann-Rautenstrauch or neonatal progeroid syndrome are reported. Extensive demyelination is found in the central nervous system with occasionally a tigroid pattern and with large amounts of neutral fats and intermediate debris of myelin breakdown in macrophages. These lesions are characteristic of pure sudanophilic leucodystrophy. Features differentiating the findings from those in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease and in other disorders associated with sudanophilic leucodystrophy with various special characteristics are presented and discussed.