Bookmarkers beware: Bookmarks to pages other than the home page may not work after we change our server in April Editor's Choice | This Week in BMJ | Press releases BMJ No 7131 Volume 316 Letters Saturday 21 February 1998 CJD was not diagnosed until eight months after organ donor's death Editor, Christie reported on the circumstances leading to the independent inquiry that was ordered after the corneas and sclera from a woman were used for transplantation before a postmortem examination found that she had Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.(1) Unfortunately, he made several inaccurate statements. In particular, the article said that the doctors involved with the patient before her death suspected that she might have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This suggestion is not borne out by the facts. At no time during the donor's life, including during the days immediately before her death from carcinoma of the lung, was Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease suspected or listed in the differential diagnosis of her condition. It is untrue, therefore, to report that 'despite these fears [that she might have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease] no action was taken to prevent Mrs Hamilton's corneas and sclera being used in transplants.' The disease was diagnosed only eight months after the patient's death, during an ongoing routine histopathological surveillance project on brain tissue. I suggest that the interpretation of the circumstances surrounding this complicated and regrettable incident is best left to the scrutiny of the planned independent inquiry without prior comment, which is likely to be ill informed. G D Morrice Consultant ophthalmologist Stirling Royal Infirmary NHS Trust, Stirling Royal Infirmary, Stirling FK8 2AU References 1 Christie B. Inquiry ordered after organ donor found to have CJD. BMJ 1997;315:1485. (6 December.) Home | Current issue | Past issues | Classified ads | Career Focus | Feedback Collections | About this site | About the BMJ | BMA | Medline