AUTHOR AND EDITOR INFORMATION

Section 1 of 10  

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

INTRODUCTION

Section 2 of 10  

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

Background

Wilson disease, or hepatolenticular degeneration, is a neurodegenerative disease of copper metabolism. In 1912, Wilson first described it as a familial disorder associated with neurologic symptoms and cirrhosis. In 1956, Walshe first treated patients with the chelating agent penicillamine.

Although the animal models are not human equivalents of Wilson disease, they are helpful in studying copper metabolism and potential treatments. The Bedlington terrier has an autosomal recessive inherited disease characterized by copper toxicosis (Owen, 1982). The Bedlington terrier does not develop neurologic symptoms, but its liver pathology is similar to that of Wilson disease. Canine copper toxicosis is caused by a mutation of the MURR1 gene, which is also believed to be essential for copper excretion and downstream of the gene that causes Wilson disease.

The Long Evans Cinnamon (LEC) rat and toxic milk mouse both develop autosomal recessive inherited diseases associated with copper overload. LEC rats are reported to develop neurologic symptoms, though hemolysis and hepatitis are the usual presenting symptoms. However, the liver histologic findings in the LEC rats and toxic milk mice are substantially different from those of Wilson disease.

Tetrathiomolybdate (TM) was initially developed to treat chronic nutritional copper poisoning in sheep and is now used for Wilson disease. The Menkes disease gene (MNK) was cloned in January 1993 and identified as a P-type adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), which led to the identification of the Wilson disease gene (WND) at the end of 1993.

Pathophysiology

Wilson disease involves loss of the ability to export copper from the liver into bile and to incorporate copper into hepatic ceruloplasmin. As a consequence, copper accumulates in the liver, brain, kidney, and cornea. The gene for Wilson disease encodes a cation-transporting P-type ATPase with 14 domains: 6 copper binding, 4 transmembrane, 1 phosphatase, 1 transduction, 1 phosphorylation, and 1 adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding. About 24.6% of all mutations involve the ATP-binding domain.

A patient with a mutation causing a deletion of transmembrane domain 8 and entire the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail was reported to have liver disease and Kayser-Fleisher rings without neurologic symptoms. The Menkes and Wilson genes have 55% identity in amino acids. The Menkes and Wilson ATPases use common biochemical mechanisms, but their tissue-specific expression differs. The ATPase affected in Wilson disease, ATP7B, is predominantly in the liver and transports copper in the hepatocyte, allowing for the incorporation of copper into ceruloplasmin and its subsequent excretion into the bile. This is the only important pathway for copper removal.

ATP7B, also known as Wilson disease protein or WNDP, delivers copper to ferroxidase ceruloplasmin in Purkinje neurons. WNDP is active during development and adulthood but seems to be downregulated with age. About 58.2% of mutations in the Wilson disease gene are missense mutations, 27% are small deletions or insertions, 7.4% are splice-site mutations, and 7.4% are nonsense mutations. Of the point mutations in Wilson disease, 58.2% are missense mutations, 7.4% are at the splice site, 7.4% are nonsense and 27% are small insertions and/or deletions. Individuals in the same family who have the same genetic mutation in ATP7B may have different phenotypes.

Accumulation of copper in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes results in cellular necrosis and leakage of copper into the plasma. The excess copper then collects in extrahepatic tissues, including the basal ganglia and the limbus of the cornea. All copper-transporting ATPases have a histidine residue in the large cytoplasmic loop, adjacent to the ATP-binding domain. The histidine residue is essential for function, and it is the most common mutation in Wilson disease. The Wilson protein is synthesized as a single-chain polypeptide and is localized to the trans-Golgi network of cells.

ATP7B transports copper into the secretory pathway of the cell for incorporation into the cuproenzymes and excretion from the cell. An increase in the intracellular copper level causes ATP7B to move to a cytoplasmic vesicular compartment. As the copper is concentrated into vesicles for excretion from the cell, the cytosolic copper concentration decreases, and ATP7B returns to the trans-Golgi network. The movement of ATP7B appears to involve amino acid sequences in its carboxyl terminus. The copper concentration is higher in brains of people with Wilson disease than in other people or animals with diseases of copper overload.

Frequency

International

Incidence is 1 in 35,000-100,000 live births, with a gene frequency of 0.56%; the incidence in Sardinia may be higher.

Mortality/Morbidity

• After patients become symptomatic, Wilson disease is lethal if untreated.
• Patients who present with fulminant liver failure have a mortality rate as high as 70%.

Age

• The onset of liver disease is usually at the age of 8-16 years.
• Neurologic symptoms are rare before the age of 12 years.

CLINICAL

Section 3 of 10  

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

History

• Liver disease is the most common initial manifestation in children.
• Older individuals often present with neuropsychiatric symptoms.
• About 40-50% of patients present with liver disease, and 35-50%, with neurologic or psychiatric symptoms.
• KF rings are almost always present when the patient has neurologic symptoms.
• Wilson disease can be divided into 4 stages: presymptomatic, symptomatic, symptomatic but treated, and maintenance.

Physical

• Neurologic signs
• • Parkinsonian symptoms - Rigidity, bradykinesia
  • Dysarthria
  • Tremor at rest or with action
  • Dystonia mainly of the face
  • Dysdiadochokinesia
  • Poor handwriting
  • Incoordination
  • Abnormal eye movements
  • Respiratory dyskinesia which can present as an unusual cough
  • Polyneuropathy (may be initial manifestation and reversible with treatment)
• Psychiatric signs
• • Hyperkinetic behavior
  • Irritability or anger
  • Emotional lability
  • Psychosis
  • Mania
  • Difficulty concentrating
  • Abnormal behavior
  • Personality changes
  • Depression
  • Schizophrenia
• Skeletal abnormalities
• • Osteoporosis
  • Osteomalacia
  • Chondrocalcinosis
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Joint hypermobility
• Ophthalmic findings
• • KF rings are greenish yellow or brown rings seen at the limbus of the cornea. They are best seen on slitlamp examination and usually progress from just the superior pole to both the superior and inferior poles and then finally to a full circle. They may not be present in children or other individuals without neurologic symptoms.
  • Sunflower cataracts are brilliantly multicolored and visible only by slitlamp examination. They do not impair vision.
  • Other relatively uncommon findings include exotropic strabismus, optic neuritis or pallor of the optic disc, and nightblindness.
• Other physical findings
• • Azure lunulae of the fingernails
  • Arthropathy

Causes

Wilson disease is an autosomal recessive inherited condition caused by mutations or deletions of the ATP7B protein encoded by chromosome subbands 13q14.3-q 21.1. This gene encodes a 1411–amino acid protein that is a P-type ATPase. The gene is found predominantly in liver, kidney, and placenta but also in the heart, brain, lung, muscle, and pancreas. The most common genetic mutations are single–base pair changes or frame-shift mutations due to small deletions. On occasion, splicing errors are found. Genetic testing may be helpful in diagnosing the disease in a patient's asymptomatic relatives, but it has not replaced the traditional laboratory studies because of the large number (>200) of mutations that have been identified.

About 95% of serum copper is bound to ceruloplasmin. The serum ceruloplasmin level is usually low in Wilson disease, not because copper levels affect the synthesis of apoceruloplasmin is affected but because the half-life of apoceruloplasmin decreases from 4-5 days to 4-5 hours in the absence of copper. The copper in liver cells is not excreted and is thought to cause oxyradical damage.

DIFFERENTIALS

Section 4 of 10  

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

Other Problems to be Considered

Drug-induced parkinsonism

Neuroleptics
Antiemetics - Metoclopramide (Reglan)
Antihypertensives - Verapamil (Calan), methyldopa (Aldomet), reserpine (Serpasil)
Flunarizine
Lovastatin (Mevacor)
Amiodarone
Cytosine arabinoside

Toxin-induced parkinsonism

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Cyanide poisoning
Manganese poisoning
Industrial chemical toxicity - Diquat, carbon disulfide, methanol, N-hexane, lacquer thinners

Miscellaneous conditions

Vascular parkinsonism
Structural lesions
Hydrocephalus
Metabolic parkinsonism - Hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, hypoparathyroidism
Posttraumatic parkinsonism - Dementia pugilistica
Hemiatrophy hemiparkinsonism
Postencephalitic parkinsonism

Differential diagnosis for pigmented corneal rings

Carotenemia arcus senilis
Chronic active hepatitis
Chronic cholestasis
Chronic jaundice
Cryptogenic cirrhosis
Intraocular foreign body with <85% copper (if >85%, severe suppurative inflammatory reaction usually present)
Multiple myeloma
Primary biliary cirrhosis
Topical copper solution treatment of the eye
Trypanosomiasis

WORKUP

Section 5 of 10  

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

Lab Studies

• Need for correlation: No one test is completely reliable. The diagnosis depends on a high index of suspicion and supporting laboratory abnormalities.
• Proposed diagnostic criteria: At the 8th international meeting on Wilson and Menkes disease in Leipzig, Germany in 2001, the following recommendations were made for the diagnosis of Wilson disease: Extrapyramidal symptoms, KF rings, low ceruloplasmin level, and high urinary copper
  excretion in patients presenting with neurologic symptoms, and KF rings, low serum ceruloplasmin level and urinary copper excretion in patients presenting with hepatic symptoms.
• The serum copper level is low (normal, 80-160 mcg/dL).
• Low serum ceruloplasmin level of <20 mg/dL (normal, 20-60 mcg/dL)
• • The ceruloplasmin level may be normal in patients with active liver disease and in women taking oral contraceptives or during pregnancy.
  • Ceruloplasmin values may also be reduced in a number of other illnesses, including Huntington disease, multiple sclerosis, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome, and aceruloplasminemia.
• Increased urinary copper level, >100 mcg/24 hours (normal, 10-80 mcg/24 h)
• • The level may be normal in children and asymptomatic siblings.
  • A repeat collection after oral challenge with D-penicillamine 500 mg at the beginning and 12 hours later can be done.
• Renal involvement
• • Hypercalciuria and nephrocalcinosis
  • Secondary Fanconi syndrome
• Hypoparathyroidism
• Coombs-negative hemolytic anemia
• Abnormal transaminase levels

Imaging Studies

• Radiography or dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan - Osteoporosis
• CT of the head
• • Hypoattenuations in the putamen
  • Atrophy
• MRI of the brain
• • High signal in the basal ganglia, thalami, dentate nuclei, and cerebellar white matter on T2-weighted images
  • Cortical atrophy
  • Ventricular enlargement
• Magnetic resonance spectroscopy
• • In 1999, Kraft et al found no statistically significant differences between 12 treated patients (9 with neurologic symptoms) and 12 healthy control subjects in ratios myoinositol/creatine (MI/Cr) and choline-containing compounds/creatinine (Cho/Cr), N-acetyl-aspartate/creatine (NAA/Cr), and lactate/creatine (Glx/Cr) in the parietal gray matter and white matter, as well as the putamen. The authors thought that decreased MI/Cr and Cho/Cr ratios were correlated with hepatic encephalopathy.
  • In 2005, Lucato et al reported findings in 36 patients compared with 37 healthy control subjects. Individuals with Wilson disease had decreased NAA/Cr ratios in the parieto-occipital white matter, frontal white matter, and basal ganglia. They also found an increased MI/Cr ratio in the basal ganglia.
• Transcranial sonography (TCS) of the brain parenchyma can show lenticular nuclei hyperechogenicity in asymptomatic patients and can be more sensitive than brain MRI.

Other Tests

• Liver biopsy - Increased hepatic copper levels, as much as 200-3000 mcg/g dry weight (normal, 20-50 mcg/g)
• • This should be measured by mass spectroscopy or atomic absorption spectroscopy.
  • Histochemical copper staining with rhodanine is insensitive ( <10%).
  • Patients with other chronic liver disease, especially those with cholestasis may also have elevated copper levels.
  • Because of sampling error, normal copper content does not rule out Wilson disease.
• Mutation analysis
• Echocardiography - May show cardiomyopathy
• Neuropsychological testing - Difficulties with Reitan trail test part B, which is sensitive for cognitive impairment associated with liver disease
• Cell culture - Normal or only slight copper accumulation

Procedures

• Slitlamp examination for KF rings (deep copper–colored rings at the periphery of the cornea) due to deposition of copper in the Descemet membrane.
• An experienced ophthalmologist should perform the slitlamp examination.

Histologic Findings

• Copper deposition in the basal ganglia
• Opalski cells - Periodic acid-Schiff–positive altered glial cells
• Cavitary degeneration
• Gliosis
• Neuronal loss

TREATMENT

Section 6 of 10  

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

Medical Care

• Medical therapy for Wilson disease is still controversial.
• • In 1999, Walshe recommended D-penicillamine as the initial therapy of choice, and Brewer stated that D-penicillamine should not be used in Wilson disease at all.
  • In 2005, Brewer recommended TM with zinc for 8-16 weeks and zinc or trientine if TM is not available.
  • Although initial use of D-penicillamine can worsen neurologic symptoms, Czlonkowska et al (2005) did not note any difference in mortality for 164 patients treated with D-penicillamine or zinc sulphate as initial therapy.
  • Pranshanth et al recommend a start-low, go-slow approach if penicillamine is used.
  • Both D-penicillamine and zinc can reverse liver fibrosis.
• Zinc is the recommended therapy during pregnancy because D-penicillamine and trientine are both teratogenic in animals and because D-penicillamine is teratogenic in humans.
  • Zinc therapy reduces copper accumulation in the LEC rat.
  • In 2005, Carelli reported zinc use with 10 year follow up in children. Zinc was given to individuals younger than 6 years without an adverse effect on growth. Dosages were 25 mg of elemental zinc twice a day to age 6 years, 25 mg 3 times a day to age 16 years or 125 lb, and 50 mg 3 times a day after that.

Surgical Care

Liver transplantation is indicated for patients with acute hepatic insufficiency; it also can be considered in patients whose disease does not respond to medical therapy. Whether liver transplantation is indicated in patients with neurologic or psychiatric disease without liver insufficiency is debatable; however, liver transplantation provides neurologic and psychiatric improvement.

Diet

A low copper diet, with 1 mg/d at first (0.5 mg/d for children), is recommended. Dietary copper intake can be increased to 1-1.5 mg/d after good control is established; however, average diets usually contain 1 mg/d. Foods high in copper content include shellfish, liver, mushrooms, broccoli, chocolate, and nuts.

MEDICATION

Section 7 of 10  

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

The goals of pharmacotherapy are to reduce morbidity and prevent complications.

Drug Category: Chelating agents

These agents were initially developed to prevent intoxication resulting from drug overdose. Dimercaptopropanol (or British anti-Lewisite [BAL]) was the first therapy used in Wilson disease. It has 2 sulfhydryl groups that form a 5-member ring with copper. BAL can cross the blood-brain barrier. It must be administered intramuscularly and is known to cause tachyphylaxis, probably secondary to induction of liver enzymes. Dimercaptopropane sulphonate (Unithiol) is an orally active derivative of BAL. The agents listed below are those most widely used today.

FOLLOW-UP

Section 8 of 10  

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

Further Inpatient Care

• Fulminant liver disease can be treated with plasma exchange and exchange transfusion as well as peritoneal dialysis with albumin 1-1.5 g/dL and penicillamine 200 mg/dL.
• Intravenous penicillamine or trientine can also be given.
• Patients with fulminant liver disease will need liver transplantation.

Prognosis

• Improvement usually begins 5-6 months after the start of therapy and continues for about 24 months. The deficits present at 24 months are likely to be permanent.
• Psychiatric symptoms usually resolve, and many neurologic symptoms improve or resolve as well. However, patients usually have cirrhosis even if liver function is normal. Patients can have complications related to cirrhosis, such as portal hypertension, varices, and hypersplenism resulting in leukopenia and thrombocytopenia.
• Patients who present with fulminant liver failure have a mortality rate as high as 70%.

Patient Education

• For excellent patient education resources, visit eMedicine's Liver, Gallbladder, and Pancreas Center and Hepatitis Center. Also, see eMedicine's patient education article, Cirrhosis.

MISCELLANEOUS

Section 9 of 10  

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

Special Concerns

• Noncompliance is an important problem.
• In 1 study, occasional noncompliance was reported in 25% of patients, and serious problems with regular noncompliance were found in 10% of patients though patients received free medication and care and though urinary copper values were monitored every 6 months.

REFERENCES

Section 10 of 10

• Authors and Editors
• Introduction
• Clinical
• Differentials
• Workup
• Treatment
• Medication
• Follow-up
• Miscellaneous
• References

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Article Last Updated: May 18, 2006