Liver Transplantation in Wilson's Disease with Neurological Impairment: Evaluation in 4 Patients

The aim of this work is to report our early experiences about the benefits of liver transplantation (LT) in the treatment of persistent neurological symptoms in Wilson's disease (WD) patients.

We describe our findings in 4 WD patients with neurological impairment or symptoms treated by LT: 2 patients had transplants due to worsening of neurological symptoms despite long-term appropriate medical treatment. The other 2 required LT because of symptoms associated with liver failure. Patients were evaluated using the modified Rankin scale and the Unified Wilson's Disease Rating Scale (UWDRS).

The 4 patients experienced neurological improvement after LT. The pre-LT Rankin score of the 2 patients transplanted due to neurological impairment was 4 compared to 3 and 2, respectively, post LT. The pre-LT Rankin scores of the 2 WD cases transplanted because of hepatic failure were 1 and 2, respectively, compared to 0 in both cases post LT. UWDRS score improved in 2 cases and remained stable in 1 less severely impaired case. Brain MRI abnormalities proved partially reversible in 3 patients and remained stable for 1 patient.

These results suggest that LT could be envisaged for neurologically impaired WD patients.