Neuropathology and Molecular Biology of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Referral Center, FLENI (Raul Carrea Neurological Research Institute), Buenos Aires

This was Argentina's referral centre for human prion disease, based in the neuropathology laboratory of FLENI, a neurological research institute in Buenos Aires. A neuropathology referral service ran from 1983 to 1996 and a formal CJD Surveillance Referral Center was set up in 1997. Between 1997 and 2008 it received 517 suspected cases and classified 211 as definite or probable TSE, producing the only national Argentine dataset found, with an incidence of 0.85 per million in 2008. Funding listed for the molecular biology work reportedly ended in September 2010, and no current statement of the centre's status was found, so its present activity is unknown. Information only, not medical advice.

Key facts

  • A CJD Surveillance Referral Center was established in Argentina in 1997; suspected cases were classified from clinical forms, EEG and MRI (centrally reviewed), CSF 14-3-3 testing, neuropathology and genetic studies.
  • Of 517 patients referred between 1997 and 2008, 211 (40.8%) had definite or probable CJD or another TSE.
  • 83% of TSE cases were sporadic and 17% genetic, mainly E200K; no iatrogenic or variant CJD was identified.
  • CSF 14-3-3 Western blot had 72.3% sensitivity and 92.1% specificity in this series; clinical criteria for probable CJD had 71.3% and 86.2%.
  • National incidence rose to 0.85 per million in 2008, with the highest rate in Buenos Aires city (1.8); districts covering 6% of the population never reported a suspect, which the authors read as underreporting outside the capital.
  • A 2007 Brazilian surveillance paper describes the centre, in the Neuropathology Laboratory of the Raul Carrea Neurological Research Institute (FLENI), as part of Argentina's organised national surveillance system.
  • A provincial surveillance form (search excerpt only) lists a neuropathology reference service for 1983 to 1996 and molecular biology reference work for 1983 to 2010, funded by FLENI-SECYT and FLENI-FONCYT grants that ended in September 2010.
  • The same form lists a Ministry of Health advisory scientific commission on human TSE created by resolutions in 1998 and 2005, and treats PrPSc Western blot as confirmatory (unverified, excerpt only).
  • A 2025 conference abstract from FLENI reviewed 64 CJD patients seen from January 2006 to July 2021 (63 sporadic, 1 genetic, median survival 7 months) but describes FLENI only as a referral neurological centre.

Timeline

  1. 1983Neuropathology referral service for human TSE begins (as listed on a provincial form; excerpt only).
  2. 1997CJD Surveillance Referral Center established.
  3. 1998Ministry of Health advisory commission on human TSE created by resolution 21/1998 (excerpt only).
  4. 2005Further resolution 1710/2005 on the commission (excerpt only).
  5. 2007Brazilian paper describes the centre as part of the national surveillance system.
  6. 2008National incidence reaches 0.85 per million, end of the surveillance study period.
  7. 2010Dedicated FLENI grants for the molecular biology reference work end (excerpt only).
  8. 2011Surveillance results for 1997 to 2008 published in Neuroepidemiology.
  9. 2025FLENI conference abstract on 64 CJD patients from 2006 to 2021.

Last checked 1 November 2026

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