Liver and kidney falure.
The juvenile form of metachromatic leukodystrophy is characterized by gait disturbances, urinary incontinence, mental deterioration, and emotional difficulties
Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a rare degenerative neurological disease affecting the fatty covering that acts as an insulator around nerve fibers known as the myelin sheath.
Adult metachromatic leukodystrophy is characterized by emotional disturbances and psychiatric symptoms. Disorders of movement and posture appear later. Dementia and decreased visual function also occur.
Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), also called sulfatide lipidosis and arylsulfatase A (ARSA) deficiency, is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, due to mutations in the arylsulfatase A (ARSA) gene
Canavan disease in Ashkenazi Jews, or globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD) and metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) in Scandinavians.
With destruction of the myelin sheath, progressive deterioration of muscle control and intellectual ability occurs
Death usually results within five years after the onset of clinical symptoms
In the early juvenile form of MLD, although progression is less rapid, death usually occurs within 10-15 years of diagnosis, and most young people with the disease die before the age of 20
Physical therapists, occupational therapists, orthopedists, ophthalmologists, and neuropsychologists are often involved in helping maintain optimal function for as long as possible.
The infant displays irritability and an unstable walk. As the disease progresses, physical and mental deterioration occur and muscle wasting eventually gives way to spastic movements
In infants neurocognitive function may be stabilized, while persons with the juvenile and adult forms of MLD and with mild symptoms are more likely to be stabilized with bone marrow transplantation
The treatment team usually involves a neurologist , a pediatrician, an ophthalmologist, an orthopedist, a genetic counselor, a neurodevelopmental psychologist and a genetic and/or metabolic disease specialist