Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease following pituitary-derived human growth hormone therapy: a new American case.

A fourth histologically-confirmed American case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) related to human growth hormone (hGH) therapy is reported. Like kuru, the illness was dominated by cerebellar signs and relatively little mental deterioration. The diagnosis was strongly supported premortem by the presence of two abnormal 30 kDa proteins in the CSF that are seen almost exclusively in CJD. The characteristic clinical picture coupled with such biochemical data allow a reasonably accurate premortem diagnosis of hGH-related iatrogenic CJD to be made.