Work

Teaching Neuro Images : Diagnosis

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: A previously healthy 64-year-old woman experienced rapidly progressing dysphasia, dementia, dystonia, and diplopia. A 4.5-cm frontotemporal meningioma was found on imaging (figure) and she was scheduled for surgery. Because her symptoms were not consistent with the meningioma location,1 imaging was reviewed further. Presumptive diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was made and surgery for that afternoon was cancelled. Autopsy 1 month later demonstrated prion protein scrapie (PrPsc), confirming CJD. The meningioma presented a potential satisfaction-of-search error. Surgery would have risked infection to those exposed, as PrPsc is highly resistant to denaturation even at autoclave temperatures.2

Source: Neurology

DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000003813

Authors: Diane Wang, Shaminta Hamindian, Jerome B. Posner, Robert J. Young

Institution: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Language: English

Topic: Prion Diseases and Protein Misfolding

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Cancer Institute