Updated clinical diagnostic criteria for sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Several molecular subtypes of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease have been identified and electroencephalogram and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers have been reported to support clinical diagnosis but with variable utility according to subtype. In recent years, a series of publications have demonstrated a potentially important role for magnetic resonance imaging in the pre-mortem diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Magnetic resonance imaging signal alterations correlate with distinct sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease molecular subtypes and thus might contribute to the earlier identification of the whole spectrum of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease cases. This multi-centre international study aimed to provide a rationale for the amendment of the clinical diagnostic criteria for sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. Patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and fluid attenuated inversion recovery or diffusion-weight imaging were recruited from 12 countries. Patients referred as ‘suspected sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease’ but with an alternative diagnosis after thorough follow up, were analysed as controls. All magnetic resonance imaging scans were assessed for signal changes according to a standard protocol encompassing seven cortical regions, basal ganglia, thalamus and cerebellum. Magnetic resonance imaging scans were evaluated in 436 sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease patients and 141 controls. The pattern of high signal intensity with the best sensitivity and specificity in the differential diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease was identified. The optimum diagnostic accuracy in the differential diagnosis of rapid progressive dementia was obtained when either at least two cortical regions (temporal, parietal or occipital) or both caudate nucleus and putamen displayed a high signal in fluid attenuated inversion recovery or diffusion-weight imaging magnetic resonance imaging. Based on our analyses, magnetic resonance imaging was positive in 83% of cases. In all definite cases, the amended criteria would cover the vast majority of suspected cases, being positive in 98%. Cerebral cortical signal increase and high signal in caudate nucleus and putamen on fluid attenuated inversion recovery or diffusion-weight imaging magnetic resonance imaging are useful in the diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. We propose an amendment to the clinical diagnostic criteria for sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease to include findings from magnetic resonance imaging scans.

Tuberous sclerosis associated with MDR1 gene expression and drug-resistant epilepsy

Intractable seizures are the most common manifestation in severe cases of tuberous sclerosis. Multidrug resistance type 1 (MDR1) gene expression is directly linked to the resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapy as the major cause of treatment failure, but it has not been reported in tuberous sclerosis cells nor has the relationship between the MDR1 gene and antiepileptic drugs been described. A 4-month-old female is described with poorly controlled seizures secondary to tuberous sclerosis. The patient was treated with antiepileptic drugs, including phenytoin, phenobarbital, and lorazepam, without improvement of symptoms. Phenytoin blood levels were invariably subtherapeutic and ranged from 0.45 to 3.55 microg/mL, despite several consecutive intravenous loading doses. Surgical treatment with total resection of the brain lesions was performed as a last resort. Immunohistochemical analysis of the resected tissues revealed high levels of P-glycoprotein 170 expression, the product of the MDR1 gene. Both MDR1 gene expression and persistently low phenytoin levels likely share a common pathway liable to induce drug-resistant epilepsy.

Krabbe disease in monozygotic triplets

The authors report an extremely rare case of monozygotic triplets with globoid cell leukodystrophy (Krabbe disease). Born to healthy, non-related, heterozygous parents, all three girls presented with typical signs of beta-galactocerebrosidase deficiency before one year of age and died within the first 41 months of life. The literature is briefly reviewed.

Histological and histochemical changes of the skeletal muscle in human chronic Chagas' disease

Gastrocnemius muscle biopsies were performed in 7 subjects with chronic Chagas' disease. On clinical and laboratory grounds the selected patients were judged to be healthy, being the only abnormality found the presence of positive serum tests for Chagas' disease. Fibre type grouping of either type I or type II was observed in 5 of the 7 patients. Furthermore, in 2 of the 5 patients showing muscle fibre groupings, angular fibres reacting with NADH and non-specific sterase were also found. These observations strongly suggest denervation associated with reinervation. This picture often can be observed in the skeletal muscle of patients with well compensated denervatory conditions who did not show clinical evidences of denervation.