Psychiatric presentation of Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease.
A case of presenile dementia, which on a post-mortem examination proved to be due to Jakob-Creutzfeldt Disease, is described. The most dramatic early clinical feature was that of hysterical aphonia, temporarily removable by hypnotic suggestion. Anxiety symptoms and irritability also occurred early on, followed by a transient hallucinatory psychosis. The hysterical features persisted throughout. In view of the lack of dementing features or neurological signs, a psychogenic diagnosis was repeatedly made by several neurologists. This case illustrates the fact that primary hysterical neurotic features almost never occur for the first time in mid-life.
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000523:psychology