Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: A Case Report and Differential Diagnoses
Fatima Gul
Abstract
Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a neurodegenerative disorder of unknown origin that leads to rapidly progressive dementia and is considered rare.It is uniformly fatal, with most patients passing away within a year.Patients with this disease may experience myoclonus, visual disturbances, and impairments in cognitive and functional abilities, as well as cerebellar and pyramidal/extrapyramidal signs1.However, these symptoms are nonspecific, making it challenging to diagnose the disease during the patient's lifetime due to low awareness and clinical suspicion.The application of diffusion-weighted MR imaging can aid in the timely diagnosis and monitoring of the advancement of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.On diffusion-weighted images, the appearance of ribbon-like areas of hyperintensity in the cerebral cortex corresponds to the Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.We present a case report of a 70-year-old man who presented with symptoms of rapidly progressive anxiety and dementia that had been ongoing for 8 weeks.After undergoing a series of comprehensive diagnostic tests and continuous monitoring, the patient was diagnosed with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease based on the 2017 Euro-CJD criteria.The key clinical findings in the case were rapidly progressive dementia, blurry vision, extrapyramidal signs such as cogwheel rigidity, deteriorating health, and abnormal hyperintensity signals observed on diffusion-weighted MRI.