[Results of electroencephalographic and familial studies in Wilson's disease]

The results of electroencephalographic and familial studies of 31 Wilson's disease patients coming from 26 kindreds are presented. Prior to treatment, 8 patients showed pathological conditions, while 9 and 11 patients showed borderline and normal conditions, respectively, it having not been possible to determine electroencephalographic conditions characteristic of Wilson's disease and find any relationships between the intensity of E.E.G. changes and the clinical picture and stage of development of the disease, respectively. Under penicillamine treatment, there was observed a tendency toward normalization of pathological conditions rather than deterioration of normal E.E.G. findings. So far as familial studies are concerned, the authors report the results obtained for 9 fathers, 19 mothers, and 24 siblings from a total of 21 kindreds; what is remarkable in this connection is the comparatively small percentage of normal E.E.G. findings for healthy siblings. It was only in one single kindred that it was possible to observe similarities between E.E.G. variations of individual family members.