We report on a 47-year old male patient who developed persistent posto
perational bleeding after tonsillectomy, which made tamponading of the
pharynx necessary. Even though die patient left the hospital after on
e week with a haemoglobin value of 10.6 g% and without any complaints,
he developed personality changes and later severe neurological sympto
ms which led to the diagnosis of hypoxic brain damage as suggested by
a variety of neurologists and psychiatrists. The diagnosis was finally
disproved by a brain biopsy revealing the existence of Jakob-Creutzfe
ldt disease, a degenerative inflammatory disease due to a slow virus i
nfection. By this final diagnosis the reproach of a maltreatment could
be ruled out. The accidental coincidence of the tonsillectomy and the
beginning of the Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease had led to the incorrect d
iagnosis of an operation-caused brain damage. A relation to the tonsil
lectomy could be ruled out by an extensive neurological examination us
ing every possible diagnostic aid including brain biopsy.