Disease progression

Long-term interruption of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) can lead to negative outcomes for late-onset Pompe disease patients, affecting their lung and exercise capacity as well as quality of life, a Swiss retrospective study shows. However, for most patients, resuming ERT can help restore the key clinical parameters that deteriorated during the pause…

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) seems to be an effective and efficient tool to evaluate muscular status and monitor patients with late-onset Pompe disease (LOPD), according to researchers. Their study, “Quantitative muscle MRI to follow up late onset Pompe patients: a prospective study,” was published in the…

Treatment with Lumizyme (alglucosidase alfa) at double the approved dose may help prevent the rapid decline of respiratory and cardiovascular functions in infants with Pompe disease, a case report suggests. Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it in 2006, Lumizyme has change the course of Pompe…

Patients with Pompe disease may develop structural changes in the basilar artery — an important artery that supplies oxygen to the brain — that may affect their risk for cerebrovascular complications, such as stroke. The study with that finding, “Decreased outlet angle of the superior cerebellar artery as indicator…

Treatment with enzyme replacement therapy can help children with classic infantile Pompe disease reach adulthood. However, it fails to prevent the long-term effects of the disease in the brain and consequent   development of intellectual disabilities, a study shows. The study titled “Classic infantile Pompe patients…