Multiple Sclerosis: A case report.

Korean J Leg Med. 2002 Oct;26(2):20-23. Korean.

Department of Forensic Medicine, National Institute of Scientific Investigation, Korea. tjkwon@nisi.go.kr

Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Korea.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system characterized by relapses and remissions of neurologic deficits. The pathologic basis is the sequential development of multifocal lesions showing demyelination, relative preservation of axons, inflammation, gliosis and remyelination. We experienced a case of multiple sclerosis who was a 30-year-old female and was found in unnatural death. At autopsy, there were multiple plaques measuring up to 2-3 cm in subependymal tissue, hippocampus and at the junction of the cerebral cortex and underlying white matter. Microscopically, the lesions were of different histological age, ongoing myelin breakdown and loss, and perivascular cuffs of lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages, coexisting with inactive quiescent lesion. To our knowledge, this was the second autopsy case in Korea.

Key Words : Multiple sclerosis-demyelination-brain