Serial computed tomographic and electroencephalographic studies in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The serial changes in computed tomography (CT) as correlated with the clinical and electroencephalographic findings were evaluated in 3 patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The disease was subsequently confirmed histologically in 2. CT revealed that brain atrophy began in an early clinical stage and was prominent even before the state of akinetic mutism. Periodic synchronous discharges (PSDs) were observed either before or simultaneous with the observation of myoclonus. With progressive brain atrophy, the frequency of PSDs and the degree of myoclonus both decreased and disappeared 8 to 15 months after the onset of disease.