Corpora amylacea of the lumbar spinal cord and peripheral nervous system.

Tissue from L-4 spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia, sural nerve, and intramuscular branches to the gastrocnemius was obtained during 35 random autopsies, embedded in paraffin, and stained with PAS and Holmes Alcian blue and studied for the incidence and distribution of corpora amylacea (CA). Intraaxonal CA in spinal grey matter were commonly found, but the incidence in root ganglia, sural, and intramuscular nerve was low. Clinically insignificant intraneuronal spinal grey CA were found in six of eight men past the age of 60 years. Corpora amylacea in spinal white matter were most common in the region of posterior root entry.