The role of neuroimaging in evaluating patients affected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: a systematic review of the literature

Abstract

Diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease during life can be challenging since the huge variability of the symptoms which can be observed, especially in its early stages, may simulate other common forms of dementia. In latest years, noninvasive techniques such as magnetic resonance, positron emission tomography, and single-photon emission tomography have been evaluated to help clinical neurologists to provide a definite diagnosis. We here provide a systematic review of the current knowledge of neuroimaging in CJD in order to establish the actual state of the art.

Keywords: 18F-FDG PET/CT; 99mTc-ECD SPECT; Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; magnetic resonance imaging; prion disease.