ABSTRACT
Brazil has a young population and areas of endemic mansoni schistosomiasis where Wilson's disease might be easily misdiagnosed in patients erroneously classified as having either the hepatosplenic or the hepatointestinal form of the helminthiasis. Twenty five patients with the "hepatic form" of Wilson's disease (14 males and 11 females) were investigated in Belo Horizonte, MG; the mean age was 13.7 years (3 to 22). Nineteen had hepatomegaly (76%) and nine splenomegaly (36%). Twenty two (88%) had cirrhosis. The Kaiser-Fleisher ring was detected in fifteen (60%). Four (16%) had clear neurological abnormalities. Eleven (44%) had ascitis and/or jaundice. Ninety one point three per cent and 92% had low ceruloplasmin and copper serum levels respectively. Eighty four point two per cent showed an increased 24 hours urinary copper excretion; seven patients in whom hepatic copper was determined had increased values. Six out of nine had at least a ten fold increase in 24 hours urinary copper excretion following penicillamine use ("penicillamine test"). Three out of 19 patients (15.8%) had mansoni schistosoma ova in stools examination, a common prevalence in our population. Their biopsies showed inactive cirrhosis without schistosomiasis-associated alterations. At least fourteen patients (56%) could be misdiagnosed as having hepatointestinal or hepatosplenic schistosomisis when in fact they suffered from Wilson's disease with or without asymptomatic intestinal schistosomiasis, losing the chance of an early treatment. The follow-up time of 22 patients was 52 months (1 to 96); eight (36.3%) died, four from bleeding esphageal varices, three from terminal hepatic failure and one from fulminant liver failure. The majority of the patients, including those who died, had abandomned the use of penicillamine or had taken it irregularly, due mainly to its highly expensive cost. A 17 year old patient underwent a successful liver transplant in 1989.
