Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 6, 2021; 9(34): 10638-10644
Published online Dec 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i34.10638
Rarely fast progressive memory loss diagnosed as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: A case report
Yong-Wei Xu, Jie-Qun Wang, Wei Zhang, Shu-Chang Xu, Yun-Xia Li
Yong-Wei Xu, Shu-Chang Xu, Department of Gastroenterology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200065, China
Jie-Qun Wang, Wei Zhang, Yun-Xia Li, Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200065, China
Author contributions: Xu YW wrote the initial draft of the manuscript; Xu YW, Wang JQ and Zhang W contributed to data acquisition and analysis; Li YX and Xu SC contributed to revision of the manuscript.
Supported by Shanghai Shenkang Hospital Development Center, No. SHDC12016109.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016) and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yun-Xia Li, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Doctor, Department of Neurology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, No. 389 Xincun Road, Putuo District, Shanghai 200065, China. doctorliyunxia@163.com
Received: December 24, 2020
Peer-review started: December 24, 2020
First decision: July 8, 2021
Revised: July 18, 2021
Accepted: October 20, 2021
Article in press: October 20, 2021
Published online: December 6, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare degenerative disease of the central nervous system that can be contagious or hereditary and is a rare cause of rapidly progressive dementia. It almost always results in death within 1-2 years from symptom onset.

CASE SUMMARY

Here, we report the case of a 57-year-old male who initially experienced dizziness followed by a 1-mo fast decline in memory function. He presented to the local hospital and underwent magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination, with no definitive diagnosis. However, the symptoms of progressive forgetting worsened. In addition, he exhibited progressive involuntary tremor of the limbs. Then, he came to our hospital, and according to the results of CSF examination, electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests and clinical manifestations of cerebellar ataxia, dementia, and myoclonus that rapidly progressed, with a short duration of illness, he was finally diagnosed with sporadic CJD (sCJD).

CONCLUSION

This case report aims to create awareness among physicians to emphasize auxiliary examination, CSF examination, EEG and MRI tests and recognition of cerebellar ataxia, dementia, and myoclonus that rapidly progress to prompt pursuit of an early diagnosis and identification of sCJD and to reduce complications.

Keywords: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Prion disorders, Progressive memory loss, Dementia, Case report

Core Tip: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare degenerative disease of the central nervous system that can be contagious or hereditary and is a rare cause of rapidly progressive dementia. Here, we report the case of a 57-year-old male who initially experienced dizziness followed by a 1-mo fast decline in memory function. According to the cerebrospinal fluid examination, electroencephalography, and, magnetic resonance imaging tests and cerebellar ataxia, dementia, and myoclonus that rapidly progressed, with a short duration of illness Clinical manifestations then he was finally diagnosed with sporadic CJD (sCJD). This case reports aim to create awareness amongst physicians to emphasize the importance of pursuing an early diagnosis and identifying sCJD and reducing complications.