Imaging astrocytosis with PET in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: case report with histopathological findings.

In a previous study, patients with suspect Creutzfeldt-Jakob's disease (CJD) have been examined with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) combining N-[11C-methyl]-L-deuterodeprenyl (DED) and [(18)F] 2- fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in an attempt to detect astrocytosis and neuronal dysfunction, two of the hallmarks in CJD. Increased DED uptake with pronounced hypometabolism matching the areas with high DED retention was found in the fronto-parieto-occipital areas and cerebellum of patients with confirmed CJD. However, the temporal lobes did not present such a pattern. In 6 of the 15 examined patients the autopsy was performed, but a strict comparison between the PET results and the histopathology could not be done. Recently, one patient with suspect CJD was examined with PET using DED and FDG. The results of the examinations in this patient showed a pattern similar to that found in the brain of the CJD patients from the first study. The patient died shortly after the examination and an autopsy could be performed. The autopsy showed neuronal death, astrocytosis and spongiform changes in the brain. The diagnosis of definite sporadic CJD was established by the Western blot analysis, confirming the presence of the prion resistant protein (PrPres). The PET data demonstrated high DED uptake and extreme low glucose uptake in the left brain hemisphere whereas the right side was less affected. The autopsy was performed allowing the comparison between high DED uptake and the histopathological findings of reactive astrocytosis revealed by immunostaining with antibodies against glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP). The results confirmed the presence of a pattern with high ratio DED/FDG, similar to that found in the previous study and revealing for the first time, a good correlation between high DED uptake and high density of reactive astrocytes as demonstrated by immunostaining.