Intracytoplasmic rod-like inclusions in caudate nucleus.

A number of intraneuronal inclusion bodies have been described as incidental findings, but the intracytoplasmic rod-like inclusions in the caudate nucleus are not widely known. They are called 'alcoholic hyaline-like bodies', because they were first reported in two patients with chronic alcoholism and the inclusions were likened to Mallory bodies of alcoholic liver. However, we have found that their prevalence was not significantly different in alcoholics with or without liver damage, in individuals with miscellaneous neurological disorders and in a control group of patients without neurological or hepatic disease. It was therefore concluded that these inclusions represent a non-specific finding.