Quantitative morphological studies of neuropathological changes. Part 1.

Quantitation of morphological changes in the nervous system is valuable for demonstrating different regions and cell types involved in a pathological process. Quantitative anatomical studies are numerous, whereas quantitations of pathological conditions are relatively few. This seems to be due partly to technical difficulties arising when comparing normal with pathological brain tissue. Shrinkage of the whole brain or of substructures is important but difficult to determine, and earlier studies are often inaccurate due to lack of precise measurement of this parameter. This review deals with three different technical aspects: (1) measurements at the macroscopical level, (2) the light microscopical morphometry, and (3) the stereological principles which are used primarily in electron microscopical quantitation. The most used techniques and formulas are reviewed in order to give an impression of the possibilities and requirements in quantitative neuropathology. After each of the major areas, macroscopical measurements, determination of nuclear and cell size and nuclear number, vascular network, and stereology, a few practical comments are given as well as references for further information on the topic. The quickly developing electronic image analysis is dealt with in the section on capillary network measurements and in the last, concluding section.