title: Symptomatic copper deficiency in three Wilson's disease patients treated with zinc sulphate.
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.
authors: Second Department of Neurology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors: Karolina
authors: K
authors: Dzieżyc
authors: Second Department of Neurology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors: Tomasz
authors: T
authors: Litwin
authors: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Sobańska
authors: Second Department of Neurology, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland; Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: czlonkow@ipin.edu.pl.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Członkowska
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003300:Copper / Q000172:deficiency*; D005260:Female; D006527:Hepatolenticular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology; D019287:Zinc Sulfate / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D019287:Zinc Sulfate; D003300:Copper
keywords: Copper deficiency; Wilson's disease; Zinc sulphate