Is there a link between COVID-19 and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease? a Case Report

Abstract

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease. The diagnosis of CJD is based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, electroencephalography (EEG), or 14-3-3 protein detection. We report a case of a previously-healthy 72 year-old woman, with evidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), who complained of behavioral changes and rapidly progressive dementia. While hospitalized, she did not have orientation to time and place and repeated an irrelevant sentence in response to questions. Also, anomia and impaired comprehension was observed. Myoclonic jerks, abnormal signal intensity at bilateral parieto-occipital cortices in MRI, periodic sharp wave complexes in EEG, and increased lactate dehydrogenase in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) highly recommended CJD as the diagnosis. This is the second case of CJD after COVID-19 during this pandemic, which can be an alarm to clinicians about the silent impact of COVID-19 on the central nervous system.