Editorial on Consensus Recommendations for the Postmortem Diagnosis of Alzheimer Disease from the National Institute on Aging and the Reagan Institute Working Group on Diagnostic Criteria for the Neuropathological Assessment of Alzheimer Disease

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING AND REAGAN INSTITUTE WORKING GROUP ON DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR THE NEUROPATHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE.Consensus recommendations for the postmortem diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. NEUROBIOL AGING18(S4) S1-S2, 1997.—This report summarizes the consensus recommenda- tions of a panel of neuropathologists from the United States and Europe to improve the postmortem diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease. The recommendations followed from a two-day workshop sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Institute of the Alzheimer's Association to reassess the original NIA criteria for the postmortem diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease published in 1985 (2). The consensus recommendations for improving the neuropathological criteria for the postmortem diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease are reported here, and the position papers by members of the Working Group that accompany this report elaborate on the research findings and concepts upon which these recommendations were based. Further, commentaries by other experts in the field also are included here to provide additional perspectives on these recommendations. Finally, it is anticipated that future meetings of the Working Group will reassess these recommendations and the implementation of postmortem diagnostic criteria for Alzheimer's disease. © 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.