Fibromyalgia and Gaucher's disease.
BACKGROUND
Patients with symptomatic Gaucher's disease sometimes have non-specific symptoms (such as general malaise with widespread musculoskeletal pains) that respond poorly to enzyme replacement treatment. These may indicate fibromyalgia syndrome; if so, other therapeutic options might be more appropriate.


OBJECTIVE
To identify patients with Gaucher's disease for whom fibromyalgia-specific therapy may be therapeutic.


METHODS
Questionnaire-based survey.


METHODS
Adult patients (n = 109) with non-neuronopathic Gaucher's disease and adult healthy controls (n = 108) completed health-related questionnaires including the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, and underwent testing with a dolorimeter to ascertain sensitivity at 22 tender points.


RESULTS
Six patients, but no controls, met the criteria for fibromyalgia. Patients with fibromyalgia had a significantly greater incidence of co-morbidities (p = 0.014) relative to other patients with Gaucher's disease; four suffered from bone involvement and were receiving enzyme therapy, but two were untreated.


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of fibromyalgia-specific trigger points may result from multiple aetiologies, or may be an independently-sorting predisposition. Our findings cannot distinguish between these possibilities, but if fibromyalgia were the cause, enzyme replacement therapy would be expensive and inappropriate.
Brautbar
A
A
Gaucher Clinic, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, PO Box 3235, Jerusalem 91031, Israel. gaucher@szmc.org.il.
Elstein
D
D
Pines
B
B
Krienen
N
N
Hemmer
J
J
Buskila
D
D
Zimran
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005776:Gaucher Disease / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged