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Neuropathologic Studies Performed in Four Retarded Persons With Autistic Behavior

Roger S. Williams, MD; Stephen L. Hauser, MD; Dominick P. Purpura, MD; G. Robert DeLong, MD; Charles N. Swisher, MD

Arch Neurol. 1980;37(12):749-753.

Abstract
• Four persons who exhibited prominent autistic features throughout life died when 4,14, 27, and 33 years old. All were mentally retarded. One had documented phenylketonuria, but the cause of mental retardation and autistic behavior was undefined in three. At the time of autopsy, brain weights were within 2 SDs of the norm for age. Complete neuropathologic examination, including analysis of cortical neurons impregnated with the rapid Golgi method, failed to provide clues as to cause or the pathoanatomic substrate of autistic behavior in these cases.

Author Affiliations
From the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center for Research in Mental Retardation, Waltham, Mass (Dr Williams), the Neurology Services of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (Drs Williams, Hauser, and DeLong), the Rose F. Kennedy Center for Research in Mental Retardation, Bronx, NY (Dr Purpura), and the Department of Pediatrics and Neurology, Michael Reese Medical Center, Chicago (Dr Swisher).

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Feb 20, 1980.

Reprint requests to Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center, 200 Trapelo Rd, Waltham, MA 02154 (Dr Williams).

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