SHORT REPORT

Concurrent hereditary haemochromatosis and idiopathic Parkinson’s disease: a case report series

D J Costello¹, S L Walsh¹, H J Harrington¹ and C H Walsh²

¹ Department of Neurology and Medicine, Mercy Hospital, Grenville Place, Cork, Ireland
² Department of Endocrinology and Medicine, South Infirmary Hospital, Old Blackrock Road, Cork, Ireland

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr C H Walsh
Department of Endocrinology and Medicine, South Infirmary Hospital, Old Blackrock Road, Cork, Ireland; hurley.phyl{at}sivh.ie

Hereditary haemochromatosis (HH) is a genetic disorder in which abnormal iron handling leads to excessive iron accumulation in systemic tissues. Magnetic resonance imaging studies suggest excess iron deposition in the basal ganglia of patients with HH. The symptoms of neurological complications of HH include cognitive decline, gait difficulties, cerebellar ataxia, and extrapyramidal dysfunction, but idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, in which brain iron deposition is normal, has not been reported. We describe four patients with concurrent HH and IPD. Although three of the cases had risk factors for cerebrovascular and cardiovascular disease, computed tomography did not show ischaemic changes in the basal ganglia. We speculate that in these cases, abnormal deposition of iron in the basal ganglia induced the symptoms of IPD.

Keywords: iron; hereditary haemochromatosis; idiopathic Parkinson’s disease

Abbreviations: CT, computed tomography; HH, hereditary haemochromatosis, IPD, idiopathic Parkinson’s disease; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging

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