Dementia Due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Symptoms and DSM-IV Diagnosis

Dementia Due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Symptoms and Diagnosis Overview:

Dementia Due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease symptoms and diagnostic criteria follow below. While some of these Dementia Due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease symptoms may be recognized by family, teachers, legal and medical professionals,  and others, only  properly trained mental health professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, professional counselors etc.) can or should even attempt to make a mental health diagnosis. Many additional factors are considered in addition to the Dementia Due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease symptoms in making proper diagnosis, including frequently medical and psychological testing considerations. This information on Dementia Due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease symptoms and diagnostic criteria are for information purposes only and should never replace the judgement and comprehensive assessment of a trained mental health clinician. 

290.10 Dementia Due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

The essential feature of Dementia Due to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease is the presence a dementia that is judged to be the direct pathophysiological consequence of Creutzfel Jakob disease. Jacob-Creutzfeldt disease is one of the subacute spongiform encephalopathies, a group of central nervous system diseases caused by transmissible agents known as "slow viruses" or prions. Typically, individuals with Creutzfeldt Jakob disease manifest the clinical triad of dementia, involuntary movements (particularly myoclonus), a periodic EEG activity. However, up to 25% of individuals with the disorder may have atypical presentations, and the disease can be confirmed only by biopsy or at autopsy with the demonstration of spongiform neuropathological changes. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may develop at any age in adults, but most typically when they are between ages 40 and 60 years. From 5% to 15% of cases may have a familial component. Prodromal symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may include fatigue, anxiety, or problems with appetite, sleeping, or concentration and may be followed after several weeks by incoordination, altered vision, or abnormal gait or other movements that may be myoclonic, choreoathetoid, or ballistic, along with a rapidly progressive dementia. The disease typically progresses very rapidly over several months, although more rarely it can progress over years and appear similar in its course to other dementias. There are no distinctive findings on cerebrospinal fluid analysis, and nonspecific atrophy may be apparent on neuroimaging. In most individuals, the EEG typically reveals periodic sharp, often triphasic and synchronous discharges at a rate of 0.5-2 Hz at some point during the course of the disorder. The transmissible agent thought to be responsible for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is resistant to boiling, formalin, alcohol, and ultraviolet radiation, but it can be inactivated by pressured autoclaving or by bleach. Transmission by corneal transplantation and human growth factor injection has been documented and anecdotal cases of transmission to health care workers have been reported. Therefore, when neurosurgery, brain biopsy, or brain autopsy is undertaken universal precautions should be taken with both tissue and equiptment that comes in contact with tissue.

Information from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV

Also, See other Diagnosis and Symptoms of Delirium, Dementia, and Amnestic and Other Cognitive Disorders

Other Mental Health Diagnostic Symptoms and Criteria  

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