Objectives: To determine the effectiveness of enzyme replacement therapies (ERT) for children with Gaucher disease (GD).
Design: A longitudinal cohort study including prospective and retrospective clinical data. Age- and gender-adjusted treatment effects were estimated using generalised linear mixed models. Children on treatment contributed data before and during treatment. Children not on treatment contributed natural history data.
Participants: Consenting children (N = 25, aged 1.1 to 15.6 years) with a diagnosis of GD (14 with GD1 and 11 with GD3) who attended a specialist treatment centre in England. At recruitment, 24 patients were receiving ERT (mean treatment duration, 5.57 years; range 0-13.7 years).
Outcome measures: Clinical outcomes chosen to reflect disease progression, included platelet count; haemoglobin and absence/presence of bone pain.
Results: Duration of ERT was associated with statistically significant improvements in platelet count (p < 0.001), haemoglobin (p < 0.001), and reported bone pain (p = 0.02). The magnitude of effect on haematological parameters was greater in children with GD3 than in those with GD1.
Conclusions: These data provide further evidence of the long-term effectiveness of ERT in children with GD.