Wilson's disease is a rare genetic disorder that causes copper to build up in the body. This overload is initially localized in the liver and the brain, but can spread throughout the body and cause systemic damage if copper chelation or zinc salt therapy is not implemented quickly. Treatment should be taken daily and continued all the lifelong. Patients usually have a follow-up (clinical examination, ultrasound of the liver, blood and urine samples) every six months in the maintenance phase of the disease and more frequently in the event of destabilization of the disease which requires adaptation of the doses of treatment or when initiating treatment. Some patients also benefit from regular psychological follow-up and patients with a disabling neurological form may have physiotherapy, and speech therapy. The Covid 19 pandemic has imposed the lockdown of the entire population, including patients with Wilson's disease. The non-urgent care of these patients was therefore suspended. Medical consultations and paramedical care (physiotherapy, speech therapy, psychologist, etc.) have been postponed. Only very urgent hospitalizations in the event of imbalance of their illness with life-threatening risk were maintained. Wilson's disease patients could in this situation be particularly anxious and present disturbances of their quality of life. The psychiatric consequences could not be limited to the current period but also concern long-term patients, in particular if there is a worsening of the disease. The consequences of inactivity and the end of specific treatments (physiotherapy and speech therapy) could also be sources of aggravation. The behavioral and cognitive characteristics of the disease and the major difficulties in adherence to treatment already observed in this chronic disease, may suggest a repercussion of the pandemic in this population. The consequences of the COVID pandemic in these fragile patients with a rare disease must be assessed. It will be important to look at the consequences of the lockdown on the adherence to treatment and on the course of the disease.
During the lockdown period, the first part of a detailed questionnaire is proposed to
Wilson's disease patients. The second part of the questionnaire will be carried out away from
the lockdown This is an observational, French multicenter study, of an uncontrolled cohort of
Wilsonian patients followed by doctors from the Wilson national reference centers
Intervention 1:
Other: Questionnaires The questionnaires are WHOQOL-BREF (quality of life) Compliance
questionnaire with a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) from 0 to 100 Hospital Anxiety and Depression
scale (HAD)
Inclusion Criteria:
- Wilson's disease patient
- Patient over 12 years of age
- Patient followed by doctors from the Wilson national reference centers (Paris, Lyon,
Toulouse, Besançon, Bordeaux, Rennes, Marseilles, Tours, Lille )
- Patients hospitalized or seen in outpatient consultation (or teleconsultation) during
the first confinement and at the end of the last one
- Non-opposition of participation in the study and for minor patient non-opposition of
one of the two holders of the exercise of parental authority
Exclusion criteria :
- Patient subject to a legal protection (tutorship)
- Patient or patient representative not wishing to answer questions
Fondation A De Rothschild
Paris, France
Aurélia Poujois, MD, Principal Investigator
Fondation A. de Rothschild