dyspropterin and Chorea

Little information is available on the long-term course and adult outcome of patients with 6-pyruvoyl-tetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) deficiency. We describe the course of a 32-year-old woman with hypotonia, dystonia, choreoathetosis, mental retardation, behavioral disturbances, and incomplete puberty due to PTPS deficiency. From the age of 6 months she developed progressive hypotonia and choreoathtetoid movements despite good control of hyperphenylalaninemia. Tetrahydrobiopterin deficiency was diagnosed at age 3 years. She had a dramatic response to L-dopa, which persisted at a stable dose for 29 years. Reducing the L-dopa dose led to severe axial hypotonia and limb dystonia, and increasing it led to florid abnormal movements and behavioral disorders. This report illustrates the role of dopamine modulation in motor, psychiatric, and endocrine functions.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Antiparkinson Agents; Athetosis; Child; Child, Preschool; Chorea; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Dystonia; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Levodopa; Long-Term Care; Muscle Hypotonia; Neurologic Examination; Phenylketonurias; Phosphorus-Oxygen Lyases; Pterins; Treatment Outcome