CJD linked to transplants
CJD linked to transplants
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Thursday, 20, Apr 2006 08:41
Brain transplants have been declared responsible for seven cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans in Britain between 1970 and 2003.
Seven transplants of dura mater, the outermost membrane covering the brain and spinal cord, caused CJD between four and fifteen years after the operation took place, a study has shown.
Published today in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, the research showed that six of the cases were caused by the same source, while the seventh originated from pig tissue.
"Human dura mater is a rare, but important source of transmission of human prion disease," the study's authors observed.
Although CJD is transmitted through four means - sporadic, genetic, variant and through surgery- the pig tissue transmission is thought to have been a first in the latter category.
Improvements in "selection criteria" combined with more sophisticated "disinfection techniques" have reduced the risk of CJD transmission since 1987, the study pointed out.
Although unable to provide any risk ration for CJD transmission, the study referred to recently completed Australian research which suggested that the risk ration for operations carried out between 1970 and 2003 could be as high as 1 in every 500.