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A Challenging Case of Wilson's Disease

Wilson's disease (WD) is an inherited disorder characterized by the accumulation of copper in various organs, particularly the liver, central nervous system, and cornea. The clinical presentation of WD can vary widely. Diagnosis requires a combination of clinical and biochemical findings. We pr...

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Autores principales: João Soares, Rita, Monteiro, Nuno, Machado, João, Silva Marques, Joana, Nunes, Ana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10461780/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37644923
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.42655
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author João Soares, Rita
Monteiro, Nuno
Machado, João
Silva Marques, Joana
Nunes, Ana
author_facet João Soares, Rita
Monteiro, Nuno
Machado, João
Silva Marques, Joana
Nunes, Ana
author_sort João Soares, Rita
collection PubMed
description Wilson's disease (WD) is an inherited disorder characterized by the accumulation of copper in various organs, particularly the liver, central nervous system, and cornea. The clinical presentation of WD can vary widely. Diagnosis requires a combination of clinical and biochemical findings. We present a case of a 20-year-old woman who presented to the Emergency Room with progressive motor decline. She exhibited characteristic neurological symptoms and signs, such as hypomimia, bradyphrenia, bradykinesia, dysarthria, sialorrhea, upper limb dystonia, and wing-beating tremor. Ophthalmological examination revealed corneal deposits known as Kayser-Fleischer rings. Laboratory investigations demonstrated low levels of ceruloplasmin and elevated serum copper. Brain MRI showed typical signs of copper deposition in the basal ganglia. The Leipzig criteria were used to confirm the diagnosis. Treatment with penicillamine and zinc acetate resulted in symptom improvement. This case highlights the diverse presentation of WD and the importance of early diagnosis and prompt treatment initiation.
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spelling pubmed-104617802023-08-29 A Challenging Case of Wilson's Disease João Soares, Rita Monteiro, Nuno Machado, João Silva Marques, Joana Nunes, Ana Cureus Internal Medicine Wilson's disease (WD) is an inherited disorder characterized by the accumulation of copper in various organs, particularly the liver, central nervous system, and cornea. The clinical presentation of WD can vary widely. Diagnosis requires a combination of clinical and biochemical findings. We present a case of a 20-year-old woman who presented to the Emergency Room with progressive motor decline. She exhibited characteristic neurological symptoms and signs, such as hypomimia, bradyphrenia, bradykinesia, dysarthria, sialorrhea, upper limb dystonia, and wing-beating tremor. Ophthalmological examination revealed corneal deposits known as Kayser-Fleischer rings. Laboratory investigations demonstrated low levels of ceruloplasmin and elevated serum copper. Brain MRI showed typical signs of copper deposition in the basal ganglia. The Leipzig criteria were used to confirm the diagnosis. Treatment with penicillamine and zinc acetate resulted in symptom improvement. This case highlights the diverse presentation of WD and the importance of early diagnosis and prompt treatment initiation. Cureus 2023-07-29 /pmc/articles/PMC10461780/ /pubmed/37644923 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.42655 Text en Copyright © 2023, João Soares et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Internal Medicine
João Soares, Rita
Monteiro, Nuno
Machado, João
Silva Marques, Joana
Nunes, Ana
A Challenging Case of Wilson's Disease
title A Challenging Case of Wilson's Disease
title_full A Challenging Case of Wilson's Disease
title_fullStr A Challenging Case of Wilson's Disease
title_full_unstemmed A Challenging Case of Wilson's Disease
title_short A Challenging Case of Wilson's Disease
title_sort challenging case of wilson's disease
topic Internal Medicine
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10461780/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37644923
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.42655
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