2025 Volume 74 Issue 4 Pages 752-757
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a fatal disorder caused by the accumulation of abnormal prion proteins in the central nervous system, leading to death from systemic weakness, respiratory failure, pneumonia, and other complications. Due to the lack of effective treatments, EEG examinations are rarely conducted after diagnosis. We report the EEG findings of a patient with CJD who was able to be followed up over a long period. The patient presented with rapidly progressing memory impairment, left homonymous hemianopia, and gait disturbance over a short period and visited our hospital. MRI diffusion-weighted imaging of the head showed extensive high-signal areas, and EEG examination revealed generalized periodic discharges (GPDs). GPDs appeared predominantly in the occipital region at approximately 1-second intervals. Over time, GPDs expanded from the occipital region to the occipital-parietal region and eventually became widespread, reaching their highest amplitude about three months after onset. It has been reported that GPDs disappear, and the EEG flattens in the terminal stage of CJD, but in this case, GPDs were still observed 2 years and 6 months after onset, albeit with reduced amplitude and frequency.
