[In memoriam Mátyás Papp (1927-2019)]

Mátyás Papp died on 4th of April, 2019, at the age of 92, following a long disease. He was working for nearly 60 years in the Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University. He was known about his works on the inclusion bodies in multiple system atrophy (Papp-Lantos bodies). He was a honorary member of the International Society of Neuropathology.

The Synucleinopathies: Twenty Years On

In 2017, it is two hundred years since James Parkinson provided the first complete clinical description of the disease named after him, fifty years since the introduction of high-dose D,L-DOPA treatment and twenty years since α-synuclein aggregation came to the fore. In 1998, multiple system atrophy joined Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies as the third major synucleinopathy. Here we review our work, which led to the identification of α-synuclein in Lewy bodies, Lewy neurites and Papp-Lantos bodies, as well as what has happened since. Some of the experiments described were carried out in collaboration with ML Schmidt, JQ Trojanowski and VMY Lee.

An early description of striatonigral degeneration

Our aim was to revisit the papers published by Scherer 1933 describing four cases of sporadic olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA) thought to represent the earliest description of striatonigral degeneration. One should note that extrapyramidal rigidity associated with OPCA was then considered a type of cerebellar parkinsonism. Two of Scherer's four patients had severe parkinsonism masking cerebellar signs. Pathologically both cases displayed marked degeneration of the striatum and nigra and partially developed pontocerebellar atrophy. Cerebellar ataxia was the outstanding feature in the other two, their pathological study showing severe pontocerebellar lesions and incipient striatonigral atrophy. Scherer stated that the severity of parkinsonism in OPCA is not correlated with the degree of cerebellar degeneration but with that of striatum and nigra. We conclude that Scherer gave the first accurate description of striatonigral degeneration. Moreover, his contribution was essential in ruling out the prevalent notion of cerebellar parkinsonism in OPCA.