Impact of COVID-19 related healthcare crisis on treatments for patients with lysosomal storage disorders, the first Italian experience.

The direct and indirect effects of Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, on Italian patients with lysosomal storage disorders receiving therapy, were analyzed by a phone questionnaire. No proved COVID-19 emerged among 102 interviewed. No problems were reported by patients receiving oral treatments. Forty-nine% of patients receiving enzyme replacement therapy in hospitals experienced disruptions, versus 6% of those home-treated. The main reasons of missed infusions were fear of infection (62.9%) and re-organization of the infusion centers (37%).

Value of the Rare Disease Registry of the Italian Region Friuli Venezia Giulia.

BACKGROUND: The lack of epidemiological and clinical data is a major obstacle in health service planning for rare diseases. Patient registries are examples of real-world data that may fill the information gap. OBJECTIVE: We describe the Rare Disease Registry of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of Italy and its potential for research and health planning. METHODS: The Rare Disease Registry data were linked with information on mortality, hospital discharges, ambulatory care, and drug prescriptions contained in administrative databases. All information is anonymous, and data linkage was based on a stochastic key univocal for each patient. Average annual costs owing to hospitalizations, outpatient care, and medications were estimated. RESULTS: Implementation of the Registry started in 2010, and 4250 participants were registered up to 2017. A total of 2696 patients were living in the region as of January 1, 2017. The overall raw prevalence of rare diseases was 22 per 10,000 inhabitants, with higher prevalence in the pediatric population. The most common disease groups were congenital malformations, chromosomal and genetic syndromes, and circulatory and nervous diseases. In 2017, 30 patients died, 648 were hospitalized, and 2355 received some type of ambulatory care. The total annual estimated cost was approximately €6.5 million, with great variability in the average patient cost across diseases. CONCLUSIONS: The possibility of following the detailed real-world care experience of patients with each specific rare disease and assessing the costs related to each step in their care path represents a unique opportunity to identify inefficiencies, optimize care, and reduce waste of resources.

Chronic pain in Gaucher disease: skeletal or neuropathic origin?

BACKGOUND: Pain is one of the most disabling symptoms of Gaucher disease. It is referred by the majority of Gaucher patients and often persists despite long-term enzyme replacement treatment. It has been mainly considered as nociceptive pain secondary to skeletal involvement but it is described even in the absence of bone disease without a clear explanation. In the last years an increasing number of reports have described the presence of neurological manifestation in Gaucher type 1 patients, including subclinical large fibre neuropathy. In our Gaucher clinic we have observed the recurrence of painful symptoms in a group of type 1 Gaucher patients even after a long-term enzyme replacement therapy. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was designed to investigate the pathophysiology of pain in a cohort of 25 Gaucher patients (13 females, 12 males). Twenty-two patients received enzyme replacement therapy for a period of time ranging from 10 to >20 years, while three were new diagnosis. Pain was classified as bone or neurologic related on the basis of anamnestic data, clinical and electrophysilogical examinations. Intensity and quality of pain were recorded by Douleur Neuropathique en 4 questionnaire and Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory. Neuroalgological evaluation, quantitative sensory testing, nerve conduction studies and evaluation of epidermal nerve fibres density were performed. Comorbidities for peripheral neuropathy were excluded. RESULTS: Thirteen patients complained of pain suggestive of neuropathic origin with proximal patchy distribution, six manifested severe pain paroxysmal, nine pinprick hypoesthesia and 17 thermal hypoesthesia. At quantitative sensory testing, all of them showed high cold thresholds with errata sensation (burning instead of cold), paradoxical heat sensation and mechanic hypoesthesia; three patients showed pressure pain hyperalgesia. Epidermal denervation was present in 19 patients, 12 of them with non-length dependent pattern. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the role of peripheral neuropathy in Gaucher pain and demonstrate that skin denervation is as a constitutive feature of the disorder. In addition, they further confirm the existence of a continuum Gaucher phenotype, and provide a new interpretation of pain origin that should be considered for an appropriate disease management and to avoid unnecessary dose escalations of enzyme therapy.

Did the temporary shortage in supply of imiglucerase have clinical consequences? Retrospective observational study on 34 italian Gaucher type I patients.

Background. Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT) is the standard of care in Gaucher disease. The effects of withdrawal or reduced doses are debated, thus a retrospective cohort study was conducted to investigate clinical and laboratory differences in 34 Gaucher type 1 patients experiencing an ERT dosage reduction after the forced temporary imiglucerase shortage in 2009. Methods. Haemoglobin concentration, leukocytes and platelets counts, and chitotriosidase activity were assessed at baseline and after 6 and 12 months (t0, t6, t12), while bone pain, energy, work or school performance, concentration, memory and social life every 3 months. Results. The cohort was made up of 18 males and 16 females (medians: age 41.8 years, therapy duration 14.1 years, dosage reduction 35.5%). Haemoglobin, leukocytes and platelets remained substantially stable, while chitotriosidase activity showed an increase, especially after t6. Age, splenectomy or genotype were not associated with laboratory parameters changes, except for a significant median increase of chitotriosidase activity in non-splenectomised patients after 12 months (p = 0.01). At 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, more than 50% patients reported at least one problem in subjective well-being (56%, 65%, 70%, 58%, respectively), while bone pain occurred or worsened in 13/33, 13/32, 7/28 and 5/26 patients, respectively. No bone crises were reported. Conclusions. Drug reduction did not induce substantial modification in the laboratory values but seems to have influenced the well-being perception of some Gaucher patients. Thus, bone pain, general health and quality of life should be carefully monitored during ERT reductions.