Occurrence of lymphocytes in the cortical neuropil in a case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Summary A 51-year-old woman suffering from visual disturbances, ataxia, spasticity, myoclonic jerks, and mental disturbances died completely demented after a 4-month course of the disease. The EEG showed typical diffuse triphasic sharp and slow-wave complexes. Histopathologic studies displaying spongiform changes in the gray matter, neuronal loss, and atrogliosis confirmed the clinical diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Electron-microscopic investigations revealed the occurrence of lymphocytes in the cortical neuropil.