title: Anaesthetic management in patients suspected of, or at risk of, having Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
abstract: We report two young patients who had repeated neurosurgical procedures and who were thought to be at risk of developing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The first patient had been given a lyophilized dural graft in the course of removal of a cerebellar medulloblastoma 15 yr previously. The second patient had received pituitary-derived growth hormone for treatment of growth hormone deficiency, secondary to a third ventricle teratoma, exised 13 yr earlier. The presence of cerebellar symptoms together with being recipients of growth hormone or dural graft of cadaveric extraction arose suspicion of a diagnosis of CJD in both individuals. Precautions in the anaesthetic and surgical management of these two patients are discussed, and pertinent literature is reviewed briefly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Virgen de la Arrixaca University Hospital, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hernàndez-Palazón
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Martínez-Lage
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tortosa
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: García-Cayuela
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000768:Anesthesia, General / Q000379:methods*; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000635:transmission*; D004340:Drug Contamination; D004388:Dura Mater / Q000637:transplantation; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D017758:Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008297:Male; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D013242:Sterilization
chemical_list: D013006:Growth Hormone