CJD under the microscope.

Abstract

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease was first described by two Austrian doctors, Creutzfeldt and Jakob, in 1920. They had treated six patients with a variety of neurological symptoms, and found on examination of these patients’ brains at post mortem the microscopic spongiform appearance which gave rise to the term ‘spongiform encephalopathy’ and the disease now bears their names (CJD Surveillance Unit 1998).