Wilson disease with thrombocytopenia (case report)

We present an adolescent patient with WD accompanied with secondary amenorrhea, and thrombocytopenia. NK, a 14 year-old girl, had amenorrhea for 5 months despite having had regular menses for 2 years. An abdominal ultrasound scan revealed ascitis and some ovarian cysts. On physical examination: slight jaundice, edema of lower extremities, skin purpuric rash, enlarged abdomen, dry skin. She had no hepatomegaly and no splenomegaly. Breast and pubic hair development was concomitant with Tanner stage 4. There was performed laboratory and instrumental investigations. The patient was diagnosed as WD owing to the low level of ceruloplasmin, with increased level of copper in 24-hour urine excretion and in dry liver tissue. The needle biopsy of liver showed severe hepatocellular necrosis, inflammatory changes and fibrosis. The platelet count was found to be low with lack of increased number of megakaryocytes in the bone marrow aspiration suggesting the thrombocytopenia was not exclusively owing to hypersplenism. The absence of antithrombocyte and other autoimmune and viral antibodies excluded respectively the diagnosis of autoimmune thrombocytopenia, other autoimmune diseases and viral infections. Thus, we support the recommendation that adolescents with amenorrhea or children with thrombocytopenia without any obvious cause should be evaluated for WD, because the early detection and treatment of WD is capable of reversing described changes and restoring a normal liver function.