Otolaryngological manifestations of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Douglas C. Bigelow, Marc D. Eisen, David M. Yen, Sondra C. Saull, David Solomon, David E. Schmidt

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Creutzfetdt-Jakob disease (CJD) is one of the uniformly fatal spongiform encephalopathies that is characterized clinically by an unrelenting progression of myoclonus, dementia, and ataxia. Since many of these patients will develop cerebellar abnormalities, some may present to the otolaryngologist with dizziness. Hearing loss, however, to our knowledge, has not been reported. We describe a patient with CJD who presented with hearing loss and vague symptoms of imbalance, and whose disease progressed rapidly and fatally despite an extensive initial workup that was otherwise unrevealing. A review and discussion of the otolaryngological manifestations of CJD is presented. The otolaryngologist should be aware that CJD can present with otolaryngological manifestations, and with proper diagnosis extensive workups may be avoided.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)707-710
Number of pages4
JournalArchives of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery
Volume124
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1998
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Surgery
  • Otorhinolaryngology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Otolaryngological manifestations of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this