Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease presenting as bulbar palsy

Muscle Nerve. 2010 Nov;42(5):833-5. doi: 10.1002/mus.21849.

Abstract

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a degenerative neurological disorder caused by a prion protein. The diagnosis may be challenging in unusual early presentations. A bulbar symptom as the initial complaint is a rare presentation for CJD, with only a few reports so far. These patients can be misdiagnosed with motor neuron disease or the Miller Fisher variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome. We describe a 69-year-old woman with CJD who presented with bulbar symptoms at the onset.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Autopsy
  • Brain / pathology
  • Bulbar Palsy, Progressive / diagnosis*
  • Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / diagnosis*
  • Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / pathology
  • Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / psychology
  • Deglutition Disorders / etiology
  • Dysarthria / etiology
  • Electrodiagnosis
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Myoclonus / etiology
  • Ulnar Nerve / physiopathology