Apparent normal leukocyte acid maltase activity in glycogen storage disease type II (Pompe's disease)

We present a case of glycogen storage disease type II (Pompe's disease) with the classical clinical presentation and characteristic electrocardiographic changes of this disorder. An acid maltase (EC 3.2.1.20) determination in the peripheral leukocytes revealed normal activity; however, acid maltase activity was completely absent in a pre-mortem skeletal muscle biopsy. Post-mortem studies showed acid maltase activity to be absent in all tissues examined, including cultured skin fibroblasts. Massive glycogen deposition corresponded to the localization of the enzymic deficiency, except in the brain, where glycogen content was within the normal range. The acid maltase activity in mixed peripheral leukocytes was due to an isoenzyme of acid maltase in the granulocyte series. Antenatal diagnosis was accurate in a subsequent pregnancy, but discordance between enzyme activity in different cell lines in an individual with a genetic disease is a conceivable source of error in both prenatal and postnatal diagnoses.