Risk factors for Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease

Abstract

To review the evidence for risk factors of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), we pooled and reanalyzed the raw data of three case-control studies. The pooled data set comprised 178 patients and 333 control subjects. The strength of association between CJD and putative risk factors was assessed by computing the odds ratio as estimate of the relative risk. The risk of CJD was statistically significantly increased for subjects with a family history of CJD (odds ratio = 19.1; 95% CI 1.1 to 348.0). Further, there was a significant association between the risk of CJD and a history of psychotic disease (odds ratio = 9.9; 95% CI 1.1 to 86.1). Although not significantly increased, there was an elevated risk of CJD for subjects with a family history of dementia, a history of poliomyelitis, subjects employed as health professionals, and subjects ever exposed to cows and sheep. No association could be shown with organ meat consumption, including brain. The negative results of this reanalysis reassures the absence of a common risk factor in all CJD patients. However, the ongoing epidemiologic surveillance of CJD in several European countries may provide more evidence to exclude any environmental exposure early in childhood.

Medical Procedures and Risk for Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Japan, 1999–2008

“…However, whether surgical procedures contribute to the risk for sCJD has been controversial. Our results, in which any operation was not a signifi cant risk for sCJD, were consistent with results of 2 previous large case-control studies (8,9) and a reanalysis of results of 3 case-control studies (10). Even in the studies with positive results, some different results were provided when the surgical procedures were categorized by affected organ.…”

“…Furthermore, some case-control studies reported that medical procedures were possible risk factors for sCJD (2)(3)(4)(5)(6). However, other studies did not demonstrate any signifi cant association between medical procedures and sCJD (7)(8)(9)(10).…”

A Difficult Diagnosis in Emergency Department: Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease

“…The mean age for the onset of the symptoms of CJD is between 57-62 years (2). Some significant features that may be considered as a risk factor for sporadic CJD cases are as follows: history of psychosis, multiple surgical procedures, having lived for more than 10 years on a farm, and presence of family history of CJD (8,9). The presented patient did not have these risk factors, but had lived in Europe for many years.…”

Risikofaktoren der sporadischen Creutzfeldt-Jakob-Krankheit

“…Auch die Meta-Analyse von drei europäischen Fall-Kontroll-Studien zeigte keine spezifischen Assoziationen für Berufe im Gesundheitswesen und der Haltung von Kühen und Schafen (Wientjens et al 1996). …”