Department of Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

NeuroTest Question #17 Next question Previous question

Answer: B (The crossed cortical spinal tract) Level of difficulty: 1 NeuroTest NeuroLearn NeuroHelp

Discussion: 

• Staining:  Luxol fast blue (SFB) is a stain that stains myelin blue. It can be combined with other stains such as LFB-cresyl violet as being used here, LFB-PAS, and LFB-HE. 
• Pathology: This is a case of X-linked adrenal cortical leukodystrophy (X-ALD). There is substantial demyelination in the lateral (crossed) cortical spinal tracts (LCS). 
• Other structures: There is some reduced staining in the anterior (Ú) cortical spinal tract (white arrow) but its degree is far less than that in the LCS. The staining in the dorsal column (DC), and spinal nerve roots (Ú) are within normal limits. The lateral lemniscus is a major myelinated fiber tract in the brainstem and is not present in this photograph.
• The lateral lemniscus is a brainstem auditory pathway and is not present in the spinal cord.

Comment: KarMing-Fung@ouhsc.edu