Update: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease associated with cadaveric dura mater grafts--Japan, 1979-2003.

In 1997, a nongovernment surveillance group for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in Japan supported financially by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) reported 43 cases of CJD associated with receipt of cadaveric dura mater grafts. In all but one case, the most probable vehicle of transmission was a single brand of dural graft (LYODURA [B. Braun Melsungen AG, Melsungen, Germany]) produced before May 1987. As of March 2003, ongoing surveillance in Japan had identified an additional 54 dura mater graft--associated cases. This report summarizes the investigation of the 97 cases, which indicated that during 1983-1987, the estimated minimum risk for CJD within 17 years of receipt of the implicated product in Japan was approximately one case per 1,250 grafts. No cases have been reported among patients who received their first dural graft after 1991; however, because of the long latency period between graft placement and symptom onset, additional cases of graft-associated CJD are likely to be reported.