Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease with Unusual Visual Hallucination : A Case Report

Initially described in 1921, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, transmissible prion disease. There are four types of CJD known. Sporadic, familial, iatrogenic and variant, of which sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is the most common, and sCJD has characteristic clinical and diagnostic features. It is a rapidly progressive, deadly infectious disease that usually results in death within a year of onset. The disease is thought to be caused by an abnormal isoform of a cellular glycoprotein known as prion protein, and is found in about 1 in 1 million people. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, like other prion diseases, is classified as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and occurs as a sporadic disease without a recognizable transmission pattern in approximately 85% of patients. Current criteria for diagnosis include a distinct phenotype, periodic sharp and slow-wave complexes at electroencephalography (EEG), Clinical features seen in patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) may be diverse symptoms. Due to diverse clinical features, it may be necessary to differentiate from cerebrovascular disease or psychotic symptoms during initial evaluation. In this case, we discuss the clinical case of a 57-year-old female patient with multiple neurological symptoms. The patient showed clinical features of alice in Wonderland syndrome during evaluation and conservative care, and was diagnosed with sCJD. In this regard, it is considered that evaluation and management are required along with recognition of the possibility of non-specific neurological symptoms such as AIWS in sCJD patients in the future.