Abstract
We report the case of a 4-year-old girl, who had been suffering for 2 years from a recurrent, painful crisis affecting both hands, following sun exposure. There were no obvious cutaneous lesions, which initially caused us to consider a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. However, the diagnosis of erythropoietic protoporphyria was then established by the demonstration of elevated levels of free protoporphyrin in erythrocytes. The present case illustrates the effectiveness of beta-carotene associated with canthaxanthin in erythropoietic protoporphyria.
MeSH terms
-
Antioxidants / administration & dosage
-
Canthaxanthin / administration & dosage
-
Child, Preschool
-
Diagnosis, Differential
-
Female
-
Follow-Up Studies
-
Hand
-
Humans
-
Pain / etiology*
-
Photosensitivity Disorders / complications
-
Photosensitivity Disorders / diagnosis*
-
Photosensitivity Disorders / drug therapy
-
Porphyria, Hepatoerythropoietic / complications
-
Porphyria, Hepatoerythropoietic / diagnosis*
-
Porphyria, Hepatoerythropoietic / drug therapy
-
Recurrence
-
Treatment Outcome
-
beta Carotene / administration & dosage
Substances
-
Antioxidants
-
beta Carotene
-
Canthaxanthin