Iatreia (Jul 2014)

Human transmissible spongiform encephalopathy: Case report

  • Duque Velásquez, Camilo ,
  • Garzón Álzate, Ánderson ,
  • Villegas Lanau, Andrés ,
  • Escobar Velásquez, Laura Marcela ,
  • Zea Lopera, Julián ,
  • Lopera, Francisco ,
  • Rodas González, Juan David

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 27, no. 3
pp. 330 – 336

Abstract

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We report the case of a 64 year-old woman with motor and cognitive deterioration that progressed rapidly during eight months. She was unsuccessfully treated with quinacrine, and died in a terminal status, by septic shock secondary to bronchopneumonia by broncho-aspiration. The brain was donated for research and the histopathological analysis showed spongiform changes, astrogliosis and prion protein (PrPRes) deposits, confirmed by Western blot (WB). These features are considered characteristic of prion diseases, which are uncommon in Colombia. We highlight that its diagnosis was made for the first time in this country by the simultaneous use of immunohistochemistry and Western blot.

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