Wilson disease in Northern Portugal: a long-term follow-up study

Wilson disease is an autosomal recessive disease of liver copper metabolism with predominant hepatic and neurological manifestations. Long-term data on the clinical follow-up and treatment efficacy are limited due to the low frequency of the disease. We evaluated a large cohort of Wilson disease patients from Northern Portugal during a 20-year follow-up period.

Twenty-four patients, diagnosed from 1975 to 2020 in a tertiary care center in Portugal, were retrospectively evaluated according to their clinical presentation, therapies and outcomes.

Most of the patients were males (54%), with a median age at diagnosis of 19 years old (interquartile range 15-25). The main manifestations of Wilson disease were hepatic (71%) and neurological (25%). Family history was positive in 5 (21%) patients. Four patients (17%) presented with acute liver failure and fifteen (63%) individuals had cirrhosis at diagnosis. Penicillamine therapy was used by 11 (46%) patients, while trientine and zinc were given to 8 (33%) and 1 (4%) patient, respectively. Ten (42%) individuals underwent liver transplantation. The majority of patients (83%) had stable disease or improved outcomes during follow-up.

This is the largest cohort of adult patients with Wilson disease reported in Northern Portugal. We show that Wilson disease has favorable outcomes with long overall survival, assuming adherence to therapy and lack of other insults to their liver.