The distribution of plaques in the cerebrum in multiple sclerosis

One of the fundamental problems posed by multiple sclerosis is concerned with the distribution of the pathological lesions called plaques. The literature concerning the histopathology of this disease is immense but a recent review by Lumsden (1955) did not refer to any paper in which the position of plaques in the cerebrum had been determined with any exactitude although such an exact study was made on the spinal cord of eight cases by Fog (1950), who found that spinal plaques occurred consistently in certain regions. This work was based on histological sections cut transversely through the spinal cord, a technique also applicable to the brain-stem but not essential in the cerebrum where the position of plaques can be seen sufficiently well by the naked eye. The present study was undertaken to determine with some precision the position and relative frequency of plaques seen macroscopically in the cerebral hemispheres in a series of necropsied cases of multiple sclerosis.