An unusually protracted case of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease highlighting diagnostic challenges in a low-resource setting: a case report

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is a rare, rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorder characte-rized by cognitive decline, neuropsychiatric symp-toms, and motor dysfunctions. Diagnosis is often challenging due to clinical overlaps with other neurodegenerative or psychiatric diseases. The usual survival period from diagnosis to death ranges from four to eight months. Sporadic CJD is the commonest sub type of CJD.
We report a 51-year-old woman who presented with a gradual decline in cognitive function, behavioural changes and involuntary movements of limbs over a nine-month period. As the disease progressed over two years, she developed a rapid decline of cognitive function, decreased conscious level, intractable myoclonus, and both pyramidal and extrapyramidal signs. The diagnosis of sporadic CJD was made, based on clinical features, electro-encephalogram, and magnetic resonance imaging findings. Specific laboratory tests such as cere-brospinal fluid biomarkers were not available, and a delay of eighteen months occurred before the diagnosis was established. She had an unusually protracted course spanning over two years.
This case highlights the diagnostic challenges of CJD in resource-limited settings and the unusually prolonged disease course in this patient compared to the typical rapid progression seen in most cases.