Liver transplant potentially helpful in rare form of autism
A patient suffering from lathosterolosis, a rare metabolic condition, showed significant improvement in her mental as well as physical symptoms after she received a new liver via transplant, a case study reported. The condition is known to produce liver failure and autism-like behavior along with defective cholesterol metabolism, congenital defects and progressive liver failure. According to a case report in the
American Journal of Transplantation, the patient’s transplant showed that there might be an unexpected association between autism and certain metabolic conditions as these. The relief in the autism symptoms of the patient has prompted the role of a healthy liver in patients with autism. The patient, all of 7 years, is the only living person with the said condition and received the liver transplant in Italy.