Anti-recoverin antibody positive Heidenhain variant CJD: a case report

ABSTRACT

The Heidenhain variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is characterized by isolated visual symptoms at disease onset, which may mimic numerous ophthalmological disorders. Anti-recoverin autoantibody can be found in patients with autoimmune-related retinopathies. The presence of this antibody with visual symptoms might be confusing in the early stages of the Heidenhain variant CJD. We describe the first case of an anti-recoverin antibody found in the Heidenhain variant CJD who presented with progressive blurred vision then memory deterioration proceeded later. This presentation reinforces the concept that the presence of the anti-recoverin antibody could not exclude the possibility of the Heidenhain variant of CJD in highly suspicious patients with initial isolated visual disturbance.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-recoverin antibody
• autoimmune-related retinopathies
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
• Heidenhain variant CJD
• isolated visual symptoms

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the patient and his sister for their participation and consent in relation to this presentation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The complete data are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Authors’ contributions

Study conception and design: TJ and JJS. Acquisition of data: CTC and TJ. Analyzed and interpreted the data: CTC. Drafted the manuscript for intellectual content: CTC. Revised the manuscript for intellectual content: TJ and JJS. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Statement of ethics

The research was conducted ethically in accordance with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH-REC). The committee’s reference number: (NTUH-REC No: 202203082RINB). Written and signed informed consent was obtained from the patient’s next of kin for publication of the details of their medical case and any accompanying images.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.