Impact of the Lockdown Due to the COVID Pandemic in French Wilson's Disease Patients

Wilson's disease is a rare genetic disorder that causes copper to build up in the body. This overload is initially localized in the liver and the brain, but can spread throughout the body and cause systemic damage if copper chelation or zinc salt therapy is not implemented quickly. Treatment should be taken daily and continued all the lifelong. Patients usually have a follow-up (clinical examination, ultrasound of the liver, blood and urine samples) every six months in the maintenance phase of the disease and more frequently in the event of destabilization of the disease which requires adaptation of the doses of treatment or when initiating treatment. Some patients also benefit from regular psychological follow-up and patients with a disabling neurological form may have physiotherapy, and speech therapy. The Covid 19 pandemic has imposed the lockdown of the entire population, including patients with Wilson's disease. The non-urgent care of these patients was therefore suspended. Medical consultations and paramedical care (physiotherapy, speech therapy, psychologist, etc.) have been postponed. Only very urgent hospitalizations in the event of imbalance of their illness with life-threatening risk were maintained. Wilson's disease patients could in this situation be particularly anxious and present disturbances of their quality of life. The psychiatric consequences could not be limited to the current period but also concern long-term patients, in particular if there is a worsening of the disease. The consequences of inactivity and the end of specific treatments (physiotherapy and speech therapy) could also be sources of aggravation. The behavioral and cognitive characteristics of the disease and the major difficulties in adherence to treatment already observed in this chronic disease, may suggest a repercussion of the pandemic in this population. The consequences of the COVID pandemic in these fragile patients with a rare disease must be assessed. It will be importa