Panencephalopathic type of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease associated with cadaveric dura mater graft.

A 52 year old man with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease who received a cadaveric dura mater graft 99 months before the onset is reported. The prion protein gene was homozygous for methionine at the polymorphic codon 129. Neuropathological examination disclosed a panencephalopathic type of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease which was characterised by severe involvement of the cerebral white matter and cerebellum, as well as of the cerebral cortical and deep grey matter. Thus the panencephalopathic type of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may occur in association with cadaveric dura mater grafts.