Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare disease that belongs to the category of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. The condition is invariably fatal and progresses with severe dementia with psychiatric signs and symptoms, as well as cortical, subcortical and cerebellar signs. We present a case of a woman aged 54 years, who developed CJD without risk factors for the disease.The usual manners of transmission could not be confirmed for this patient, who died ten months after the onset of symptoms. CJD is also a serious health care concern, since patients who are still asymptomatic may be donating blood for transfusions or for blood products.