Case report
Complications of severe cerebral amyloid angiopathy in the course of dementia with Lewy bodies. A case report

A 68-year-old male who suffered from dementia, progressing for four months without Parkinson’s symptoms, was admitted to the Department of Neurology because of vertigo, slight left hand paresis and positive Romberg test. During hospitalization the patient’s status deteriorated. The intracerebral lobar haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage and ischaemic lesions observed on CT scans suggested the clinical diagnosis of CAA. He died after 53 days due to pneumonia. On macroscopic examination, the brain showed general cortical atrophy and ventricular dilatation. Frontal lobar haemorrhage and focal subarachnoid haemorrhage were seen on the brain autopsy. Microscopic observation demonstrated neuronal loss and microspongiosis in the hippocampus, severe neuronal loss and depigmentation in the substantia nigra pars compacta and locus coeruleus. Lewy bodies were visible in the substantia nigra and amyloid angiopathy, predominantly severe CAA according to the Vonsattel scale, in the meningeal and cortical vessels. In the presented case, the microscopic findings were typical for DLB with concomitant severe CAA. In progressive dementia, neurological deterioration, presence of lobar hemorrhagic infarcts and ischaemic lesions suggest CAA coexistent with DLB and/or AD.