A COMPARISON OF EFFICACY AND URINARY COPPER EXCRETION IN THE TREATMENT OF HEPATOLENTICULAR DEGENERATION WITH PENICILLAMINE AND ZINC

PURPOSE To compare the efficacy and urinary copper excretion in the treatment of hepatolenticular degeneration (HLD) with penicillamine and zinc. METHODS The outputs of urinary copper were measured by anodic stripping voltammetry method. Data were analyzed with X2 test and t test. RESULTS Sixty-nine patients with HLD treated with penicillamine and zinc has been reported. Mean courses of treatment with penicillamine were 10.25± 3.84 years and the effective rate was 94.2 %. Mean courses of treatment with zinc were 3.62± 0.94 years and the effective rate was 58.8 %. At the same time the outputs of urinary copper of the group treated with penicillamine were higher obviously than the group treated with zinc (P 0.01 ). CONCLUSIONS The efficacy of treatment with penicillamine was superior to zinc therapy. Penicillamine may be more effective in getting rid of excessive free copper of tissues than zinc.