Angiokeratoma corporis diffusum in a Spanish patient with aspartylglucosaminuria.

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.

Excretion of polyamines by children with Beckwith's syndrome.

The urinary excretion of the polyamines--putrescine, spermidine, and spermine--was measured in 7 children with Beckwith's syndrome. Putrescine excretion was raised and spermidine excretion reduced. The raised putrescine and the low spermidine ratios were highly significant. These results are consistent with a disturbance in a metabolic pathway under growth hormone-like regulation.