Creutzfeld-Jakob disease.

The eyes of two patients with Creutzfeld-Jakob disease were received at autopsy and examined for any specific changes. Previous clinical examination of one of the patients had failed to reveal any specific ocular changes. No evidence for an infectious agent was found in any portion of the eye. The cornea and the retinal were structurally intact. The axons and the glial elements of the optic nerve head were intact. However, increased cellularity, consisting mainly of astrocytes, was noted in the optic nerves in front of and behind the lamina cribrosa.