Magnetic resonance imaging is not a sensitive test for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Abstract
EDITOR,—Terence Featherstone asks whether the prevalence of signal abnormalities in the basal ganglia seen on magnetic resonance imaging in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is being studied.1 We have been conducting systematic surveillance of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Britain since 1990 and have collected data, including reports of magnetic resonance imaging, on 256 definite and probable cases (as defined by Masters et al2). We are also currently involved in a study to ascertain radiological and pathological correlations, using postmortem magnetic resonance imaging of the brain before histological processing. Ninety six people …