Quantifying the pathology of neurodegenerative disorders: quantitative measurements, sampling strategies and data analysis

• Published in: Histopathology Vol. 42; no. 6; pp. 521 - 529
• Main Author: Armstrong, R A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.06.2003; Blackwell
• Subjects: abundance; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer's disease; Biological and medical sciences; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; dementia with Lewy bodies; Humans; Medical sciences; Neurodegenerative Diseases - epidemiology; Neurodegenerative Diseases - pathology; neurodegenerative disorders; Neurology; Pathology - methods; Pathology - statistics & numerical data; quantitative measurements; Sample Size; sampling methods; Statistics as Topic; Human; dementia with Lewy bodies; Nervous system diseases; Data analysis; sampling methods; Alzheimer disease; abundance; Quantization; neurodegenerative disorders; quantitative measurements; Cerebral disorder; Pathology; Central nervous system disease; Lewy body dementia; Degenerative disease; Diagnosis; Sampling; Alzheimer's disease; Bibliographic review
• ISSN: 0309-0167; 1365-2559
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2559.2003.01601.x

The use of quantitative methods has become increasingly important in the study of neurodegenerative disease. Disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) are characterized by the formation of discrete, microscopic, pathological lesions which play an important role in pathological diagnosis. This article reviews the advantages and limitations of the different methods of quantifying the abundance of pathological lesions in histological sections, including estimates of density, frequency, coverage, and the use of semiquantitative scores. The major sampling methods by which these quantitative measures can be obtained from histological sections, including plot or quadrat sampling, transect sampling, and point‐quarter sampling, are also described. In addition, the data analysis methods commonly used to analyse quantitative data in neuropathology, including analyses of variance (anova) and principal components analysis (PCA), are discussed. These methods are illustrated with reference to particular problems in the pathological diagnosis of AD and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).