Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatments

Diagnosis

Although there is no cure for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), early diagnosis is important because the underlying cause of the dementia may be treatable.

Currently, there is no single diagnostic test. If CJD is suspected, you may undergo a series of tests. Your doctor will conduct a neurological examination and other tests such as a spinal tap to rule out more common and treatable forms of dementia and an electroencephalogram (EEG) to record the brain's electrical pattern, which can identify a specific abnormality that occurs in CJD.

Computerized tomography (CT) of the brain can help rule out the possibility that symptoms are caused by other problems such as a stroke or a brain tumor.

One of the most effective diagnostic tools is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scan, which can reveal patterns of brain degeneration characteristic of CJD.

In cases where diagnosis is difficult even after an MRI, you may undergo a brain biopsy in which a neurosurgeon removes a small piece of tissue from the area of the brain that appears abnormal. The tissue is examined by a neuropathologist.

After death, a definitive diagnosis can be made with an autopsy that examines the whole brain.

The UCSF Memory and Aging Center consults with doctors from throughout the world who are treating patients with CJD. If you would like your doctor to consult with UCSF, ask your doctor to fax your records to the attention of Dr. Michael Geschwind at (415) 476-4800. Doctors at the Memory and Aging Center will review your records.

Copies of MRI films can be sent to:

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated July 7, 2008