title: [Manifestation of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease 30 years after corneal transplantation].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, currently viewed as one of the prionic diseases, occurs in by far the majority of cases sporadically, sometimes in families, and in rare instances as a transmissible disease with every conceivable interval of latency.
  
  
  METHODS
  This report of a 45-year-old female concerns a spongiform encephalopathy which appeared almost 30 years after penetrating keratoplasty. The corneal material came from a 63-year-old donor with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; the keratoplasty was performed at a time when the transmissibility of certain diseases was still unknown.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The risk of transmission of the disease is very low but cannot be ruled out.
authors.affiliation: Universitäts-Augenklinik Tübingen, Abt. Augenheilkunde I, Allgemeine Augenheilkunde mit Poliklinik, Schleichstrasse 12, 72076 Tübingen.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Thiel
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Erb
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heckmann
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Neundörfer
mesh_terms: D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000635:transmission; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015948:Keratoplasty, Penetrating; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014019:Tissue Donors