Regression of Kayser-Fleischer rings during oral zinc therapy: correlation with systemic manifestations of Wilson's disease.
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| Abstract |
Fourteen patients presenting with neuropsychiatric manifestations of Wilson's disease were treated with oral tetrathiomolybdate (TM) for 8 weeks followed by oral zinc (Zn) maintenance therapy. The patients were evaluated prospectively at baseline and at yearly intervals for up to 5 years by slit-lamp biomicroscopy and photography, quantitative neurologic and speech pathology examinations, 24-h urine copper collection, and a quantitative scoring of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. Kayser-Fleischer (KF) ring size decreased significantly during the 5-year study period (p < 0.0001). Although results of neurologic examination, speech pathology examination, and 24-h urine copper level analysis in symptomatic Wilson's disease patients improved during the study period, KF ring regression did not correlate with the improvement in these clinical parameters (p > 0.05). However, there was a correlation between MRI scores and KF ring regression (p = 0.02). Anticopper therapy with TM followed by zinc maintenance therapy is a safe and effective treatment for patients with neurologically symptomatic Wilson's disease. This treatment leads to reduction in KF ring size; however, KF ring reduction is not a good predictor of clinical improvement for patients with neuropsychiatric manifestations of Wilson's disease.
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| Authors | B Esmaeli, M A Burnstine, C L Martonyi, A Sugar, V Johnson, G J Brewer |
| Journal | Cornea (Cornea) Vol. 15 Issue 6 Pg. 582-8 (Nov 1996) ISSN: 0277-3740 [Print] United States |
| PMID | 8899270 (Publication Type: Journal Article) |
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