The infantile-onset form of Pompe disease: an autopsy diagnosis

Authors

  • Otávio César Cruz dos Santos University of São Paulo. Faculty of Medicine. Hospital das Clínicas. Department of Pathology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4322/acr.2015.022

Keywords:

Autopsy, Glycogen Storage Disease Type II, GAA protein, human, Cardiomyopathy, Diagnosis

Abstract

Pompe disease (PD) is a rare, inherited autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by the deficiency of the lysosomal acid alpha-glucosidase (GAA) enzyme described in 1932 by the Dutch pathologist Joannes Cassianus Pompe. The prevalence of PD ranges from 1:40,000 to 1:300,000 births and depends on geographic and ethnic factors. Clinical manifestations may vary from a rapidly progressive disabling disease with cardiomegaly, hepatomegaly, weakness, generalized hypotonia, and death within the first year of life, to a mild presentation characterized by slowly progressive myopathy predominantly involving the skeletal muscles. The laboratory diagnostic gold standard is represented by the determination of the alphaglucosidase activity. However, the muscle histology may also yield the diagnosis by evaluating the tissular glycogen accumulation. Until recently, supportive measures constituted the unique available therapy. Currently, the administration of the recombinant GAA is being used with promising results. The authors present the case of a 5-month-old boy, previously diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy since the age of 2 months, who presented acute heart failure accompanied by biventricular dilation followed by refractory shock and death. The autopsy findings confirmed the glycogen-accumulation disease

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Published

2015-12-10

Issue

Section

Article / Autopsy Case Report

How to Cite

The infantile-onset form of Pompe disease: an autopsy diagnosis. (2015). Autopsy and Case Reports, 5(4), 45-51. https://doi.org/10.4322/acr.2015.022