PATHOLOGY OF AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS

Abstract

It has been suggested (Kure and collaborators 1 and Hechst 2 ) that only the large nerve fibers in the ventral roots degenerate in cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and that the small fibers remain intact. Kure stated that this was true of the pyramidal and rubrospinal tracts as well. As these observations were not supported by measurements and the material was limited, their statements have received little recognition. Marburg 3 expressed the belief that the observations of Kure and Hechst did not prove that a special fiber system was left intact in the ventral roots, since other investigators had not noted a predominant loss of large fibers in the ventral roots in their cases, and suggested as an alternative that these small fibers were atrophic. Karlstrom and Wohlfart 4 reported a marked reduction in the number of large nerve fibers in the ventral roots in cases of infantile spinal muscular