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Whatever happened to Reye's syndrome? Did it ever really exist?
1Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, University Community Hospital, Tampa, FL 33613-4688, USA.
Critical Care Medicine
|September 2, 1999
Summary
Reye's syndrome (RS) diagnoses were reevaluated, revealing most cases were actually inborn errors of metabolism. Improved diagnostic methods explain the apparent disappearance of RS.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Metabolic Disorders
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Reye's syndrome (RS) emerged in the 1950s and declined by the late 1980s.
- Metabolic disorders that mimic RS were identified in the 1980s.
Purpose of the Study:
- To reassess original Reye's syndrome diagnoses using updated criteria.
- To investigate the role of newly identified metabolic disorders in RS mimicry.
Main Methods:
- Re-examined medical records of 26 Reye's syndrome survivors from Australia.
- Interviewed families of Reye's syndrome patients.
- Re-analyzed 49 original Reye's syndrome cases with precise diagnostic criteria.
Main Results:
- 18 of 26 survivors (69%) were rediagnosed with other conditions, primarily inborn errors of metabolism.
- Medium-chain acyl-coenzyme-A dehydrogenase deficiency was the most common rediagnosed metabolic disorder.
- Using precise criteria, none of the 49 original cases met the certain diagnosis for Reye's syndrome.
Conclusions:
- Improved diagnostic techniques reveal most Reye's syndrome cases are metabolic disorders.
- The decline in Reye's syndrome is likely due to the identification of mimicking inborn errors of metabolism.