[Phenotype and incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Finland in 1997-2013]. / Creutzfeldt-Jakobin taudin ilmiasu ja ilmaantuvuus Suomessa vuosina 1997-2013.

INTRODUCTION: The incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in Finland in 1974-1989 was reported to be 0.6/1 000 000. Our aim was to compare the current incidence of CJD in Finland with the earlier incidence and also study the diagnostics of the disease. METHODS: Register study of the Finnish CJD cases from 1997 to 2012 and the clinical data of CJD patients within the Hospital District of Southwest Finland from 2007 to 2013. RESULTS: There were 119 cases. The average yearly incidence was 1.36-1.44/1 000 000. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the previous study, the incidence in Finland appears to have increased. The change is propably due to increased awareness and improved diagnostic methods.

Midbrain-to-pons ratio in autopsy-confirmed progressive supranuclear palsy: replication in an independent cohort.

Recent neuropathologically confirmed clinical data suggest that the midbrain-to-pons ratio, as calculated from conventional brain MRI, has high specificity and sensitivity for the diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Here, we aimed to replicate these findings in an independent autopsy-confirmed cohort of 6 PSP patients and 23 non-PSP patients. Patients with confirmed PSP had clearly lower midbrain-to-pons ratios compared to non-PSP patients (p < 0.0001). All non-PSP patients had midbrain-to-pons ratios higher than 0.50, whereas all but one PSP patient had a ratio lower than 0.50. The positive predictive value (PPV) of the ratio (<0.50) was 100% and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 95.8 %. The results of this second autopsy-confirmed sample confirm that midbrain-to-brain ratios constitute reliable and clinically useful estimates of diagnostic midbrain atrophy in relation to PSP pathology.