No abstract

Two adult siblings with an alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase deficiency are described. The patients' major features are massive lymphoedema and angiokeratoma corporis diffusum. Neurological evaluation performed in one of the patients was considered within normal limits. Blood type is A positive in each case. Ultrastructural examination of skin revealed numerous vacuoles in endothelial cells and pericytes. Fibroblast activity of alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase was decreased to 0.6-2% of mean normal value. Chromatography of urinary oligosaccharides showed abnormal bands identical to those excreted by two infantile patients with Schindler disease. The bands were identified as sialyloligosaccharides, and gas chromatography revealed the presence of N-acetylgalactosamine-rich compounds accounting for 30% of the total monosaccharide content of the oligosaccharide fraction. These findings confirm the heterogeneity of alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase deficiency and emphasize the need to consider this lysosomal storage disease in the differential diagnosis of patients with angiokeratoma.

Angiokeratoma corporis diffusum (ACD), initially considered to be synonymous with Fabry's disease, represents a well-known cutaneous marker of some other lysosomal enzyme disorders. Aspartylglucosaminuria (AGU) is a rare hereditary disorder mostly affecting the Finnish population, with only a few sporadic patients of non-Finnish origin. To date, only three patients with AGU have been reported with cutaneous lesions of ACD. A 19-year-old Spanish woman presented with a 10-year history of progressive ACD affecting the limbs, buttocks and trunk. After the age of 6 years she had developed progressive mental deterioration, coarse facies and macroglossia with a scrotal appearance. Peripheral blood smears showed many vacuolated lymphocytes. Enzyme analysis in cultured fibroblasts revealed a decreased activity of aspartylglucosaminidase. By the age of 31 years the patient had developed a bipolar psychosis, polycystic ovarian disease and severe impairment of cognitive skills. This is the first case of AGU detected in a Spanish patient presenting with cutaneous lesions of ACD. To our knowledge, macroglossia with a scrotal appearance and polycystic ovarian disease have not been reported in previous cases of AGU.