Neurology India Medknow Publications on behalf of the Neurological Society of India ISSN: 0028-3886 EISSN: 1998-4022 Vol. 50, Num. 1, 2002, pp. 112

Neurology India, Vol. 50, No. 1, March, 2002, pp. 112

MATTERS ARISING

Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease (CJD) : Report of 10 Cases from North India

B.S. Singhal

Department of Neurology, Bombay Hospital Institute of Medical Sciences, 12, Marine Lines, Mumbai - 400 020, India.

Code Number: ni02035

I read with interest the article on 'Creutz-Jacob Disease (CJD) : Report of 10 cases from North India'.¹ As the authors have remarked, CJD is being increasingly reported from various regions in India. CJD Registry at NIMHANS initiated by Shankar and Satish Chandra2 is a step in the right direction to know about the prevalence of CJD in India.

Singhal and Dastur,³ described 7 patients from Western India way back in 1983. There was autopsy confirmation in 4 patients and attention was drawn to the fact that 2 of the 7 patients were vegetarian. They also documented the earlier reports of CJD from India in their article for historical purposes.

References

1. Mehndiratta MM, Bajaj BK, Gupta M et al : Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease : Report of 10 cases from North India. Neurol India 2001; 49 : 338-341.
2. Shankar SK, Satish Chandra P : Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease - Cases in India in 30 years (1968-1997). CJD Registry NIMHANS, Bangalore, India.
3. Singhal BS, Dastur DK : Creutzfeldt - Jacob Disease in Western India. Observation in 7 patients. Neuroepidemiology 1983; 2 : 92-100.

Authors Reply

I thank Dr. Singhal for showing interest in our article. I am aware of the study reported by Singhal et al in 1983. I think incidence of CJD may be much more than being reported. Many of the cases of CJD are probably being underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Many of the patients may not report to the hospital because of rapidly progressive course and death occuring within few weeks to months and cause of death may get a dfferent label.

M.M. Mehndiratta

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