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Bay Area Private Autopsy Lab

Postmortem brain exam

Postmortem brain exam is an underutilized tool that may be used to translate genetic and/or preclinical studies, particularly for neuropsychiatric illnesses with complex etiologies. Dementia symptoms may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language, severe enough to reduce a person’s ability to perform everyday activities.

A person with dementia may also experience changes in mood or behavior. Many diseases can cause dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia (due to strokes), Lewy Body disease, head trauma, fronto-temporal dementia, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. These conditions can have similar and overlapping symptoms.

Only postmortem brain exam can accurately assess beta-amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques, which is proposed as one of the mechanisms by which Alzheimer’s disease leads to neuronal death and dysfunction.

Family will receive a final written report approximately 2-3 months after the autopsy is performed, which will include the official diagnosis and detail anything else that was learned. The report is presented in technical, medical terminology but we will be happy to translate it for you.