CJD Prions a Surgery Risk?
By Joan Stephenson, PhD
Using an extremely sensitive prion detection method, the researchers examined brain tissue and extraneural organs of 36 patients with sporadic CJD. In addition to detecting prions in the brain tissue of all patients, they found prions in 10 of 28 spleen specimens and in 8 of 22 samples of skeletal muscles.
Neurological examinations of patients in the prodromal stages of sporadic CJD often include electromyography and muscle biopsies. Thus, the researchers said, finding prions in skeletal muscle of patients with the disorder "reinforces calls for the use of single-use needle electrodes and of special protocols for the sterilization of surgical instruments used for biopsies."
The article this news story refers to was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 349, pages1812-1820
Joan Stephenson
Joan Stephenson, PhD
Editor, Medical News & Perspectives
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)
515 N. State St.
Chicago, IL 60610
USA
+1 312-464-2444 (tel)
+1 312-464-5824 (fax)
joan_stephenson@jama-archives.org
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/290/23/3057?etoc
karl theis jr
http://groups.msn.com/exposureofthetruth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------