IRREGULAR DISTORTION OF THE ERYTHROCYTES (ACANTHOCYTES, SPUR CELLS) IN SENILE DEMENTIA

An excess of irregularly distorted red cells with spiked forms (acanth ocytes, spur cells) has been found in a substantial minority of patien ts with senile dementia of Alzheimer type (7 of 50 patients, 3 of 21 m en and 4 of 29 women). Of 100 control patients, 42 men and 58 women), 5 (3 men and 2 women) showed comparable distortion, but, of these, one man may well have incipient dementia and the others had serious organ ic diseases which may be associated with comparable erythrocytic chang es. The cause of the distortion is not yet clear, but the presence of occasional giant erythrocytes in the absence of general macrocytosis s uggests a possible abnormality of cell-membrane synthesis. This distor tion may be a useful marker in patients with loss of memory. Whether i t is a manifestation of a haemopoietic clone or a constitutional anoma ly associated with Alzheimer's disease remains to be seen.