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Symptomatic copper deficiency in three Wilson's disease patients treated with zinc sulphate
Affiliations- Second Department of Neurology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland
- Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
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Abstract
Wilson's disease (WD) is caused by excess of copper that leads to accumulation of copper mainly in the liver, brain and needs life-long decoppering therapy. However, overtreatment with anti-copper agents may lead to copper deficiency which may cause neurological and hematological symptoms. Copper is an important cofactor for many enzymes. This report describes three WD patients with diagnosed copper deficiency during zinc sulphate (ZS) treatment. After 5–16 years of therapy all patients developed leucopenia. Spinal cord injury was manifested in two of the patients. One of them also presented myopathy. In conclusion, copper deficiency may occur in different time after treatment onset, therefore regular copper metabolism and hematological monitoring is necessary.
Abstract
Wilson's disease (WD) is caused by excess of copper that leads to accumulation of copper mainly in the liver, brain and needs life-long decoppering therapy. However, overtreatment with anti-copper agents may lead to copper deficiency which may cause neurological and hematological symptoms. Copper is an important cofactor for many enzymes. This report describes three WD patients with diagnosed copper deficiency during zinc sulphate (ZS) treatment. After 5–16 years of therapy all patients developed leucopenia. Spinal cord injury was manifested in two of the patients. One of them also presented myopathy. In conclusion, copper deficiency may occur in different time after treatment onset, therefore regular copper metabolism and hematological monitoring is necessary.
Keywords
Copper deficiency, Wilson' s disease, Zinc sulphate
About this articleTitle
Symptomatic copper deficiency in three Wilson's disease patients treated with zinc sulphate
Journal
Neurologia i Neurochirurgia Polska
Issue
Pages
214-218
Page views
390
Article views/downloads
1329
DOI
10.1016/j.pjnns.2014.05.002
Bibliographic record
Neurol Neurochir Pol 2014;48(3):214-218.
Keywords
Copper deficiency
Wilson's disease
Zinc sulphate
Authors
Karolina Dzieżyc
Tomasz Litwin
Anna Sobańska
Anna Członkowska
