[Adult progeria (Werner's syndrome)]

A 48-year-old man was referred with progressive claudication and nocturnal pain at rest in the right foot. During the last few years exercise-induced pain, ulcerations and necroses had developed in both legs without any evidence of relevant macroangiopathies. The patient showed marked morphological changes. He had bilateral cataracts since aged 35 years. At 40 years he had undergone a transurethral resection of a bladder carcinoma. One of his brothers showed similar morphological changes, but they were absent in his parents and three siblings.

Radiology of the right foot revealed extensive para-osseous soft-tissue calcifications. Direct right femoral angiography demonstrated distal occlusions of the anterior and posterior tibial arteries as well as subtotal occlusion of the fibular artery. Routine laboratory tests were normal, as were all measured antibody titres.

The peripheral vascular disease, stage IV, of the right leg were presumably caused by adult progeria (Werner's syndrome). Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTAP) of the distal fibular and, later, of the posterior tibial artery was performed, and prostacyclins, antibiotics and platelet-aggregation inhibitors were administered. Although the PTAP was technically successful, the state of the right foot remained critical, due to the existing microangiopathy and the impaired proliferation and healing capacity of the tissues as part of the adult progeria.

The diagnosis of adult progeria is usually made because of the patients' characteristic morphology and typical concomitant diseases. The average age of patients at diagnosis is 37 years. The syndrome is caused by a helicase defect. This enzyme group unwinds double-helix RNA and DNA. Because the syndrome is rare and gene analysis is complex, it is unlikely that a commercial screening test will become available.