[Fabry disease].

Anderson--Fabry's disease is an hereditary disease with an X-linked genetic transmission, caused by the congenital deficiency of the lysosomial enzyme alpha-galactosidase A. It is a rare disease, but the estimated 1 patient every 117.000 male population is increasing and this can be demonstrated by simplifying the dosage techniques for the enzyme. The clinical picture comes from the accumulation of glycosphingolipids in many organs, mainly vessels, heart, nervous tissue, kidney and sight. The histological lesion appears as damage to the lysosomial membrane with subsequent migration of the lipid corpuscles into the cytoplasm and the breakdown of metabolic cellular activities. Prior to the advent of enzyme replacement therapy, which is based on the administration of the recombinant enzyme, the course of the disease was certainly fatal (early death by ictus or ischemic cardiopathy, terminal kidney failure). Despite the positive results achieved, information obtained from the present observation research should be help to verify the validity of the enzyme replacement therapy.