The Central Nervous System Involvement in Fabry Disease: A Review

ABSTRACT

Abstract Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked, lysosomal storage disorder caused by a mutation in the alpha galactosidase (GLA) gene leading to a deficiency in α-galactosidase A enzyme (α-Gal A) activity, which in turn results in accumulation of glycosphingolipids in different cells. The 2 major clinical phenotypes are the classic severe phenotype and the milder, later onset phenotype. In severe affected males with little or no α-Gal A activity, the onset of acroparesthesias, hypohidrosis, angiokeratomas, and corneal dystrophy is typically observed in childhood or adolescence. With advancing age, progressive multisystem microvasculopathic disease culminates in renal failure, cardiomyopathy, and/or cerebrovascular disease. Patients with later onset have residual enzyme activity and lack of vascular endothelial glycolipid accumulations; thus, they do not present with the early manifestations of the classic phenotype and typically present cardiac or renal disease in the fourth to seventh decade. Although the pathogenesis of cerebral vasculopathy in FD is poorly understood, it can be hypothesized that white matter changes may reflect the pathophysiology of the disease.