Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a post-COVID-19 patient: did SARS-CoV-2 accelerate the neurodegeneration?

BACKGROUND: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare, fatal neurodegenerative disorder, with few months as a usual duration from onset to death.

CASE PRESENTATION: In this case report, a patient of Sporadic CJD (sCJD) who presented one month after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The diagnosis of this case was established after confirming findings from clinical, neurophysiology, radiological, and laboratory features of this disease.

CONCLUSION: Putting in mind all the updated data on the pathogenesis of CJD and the immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, we can suggest that COVID-19 can lead to accelerated pathogenesis and exaggerated manifestations of this fatal neurodegenerative disease.