Cardiologists and mucopolysaccharidoses. Recommendations of GICEM (Cardiology Experts on Metabolic Disease Italian Group) for diagnosis, follow-up and cardiological management

Abstract

Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) represent a group of rare lysosomal storage disorders, with a heterogeneous clinical presentation in terms of inheritance (autosomal and X-linked recessive), age of onset (infants, children, and adults), systemic and cardiac manifestations (mild to severe disease forms). Evidence-based recommendations on the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular disease in MPS are scarce. GICEM (Gruppo Italiano Cardiologi Esperti Malattie Metaboliche) is a group of cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and pediatricians with a specific expertise in metabolic diseases including MPS. In this paper, we report our experience and recommendations on the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular aspects in MPS, with a tailored approach based on current evidence, and taking into account MPS phenotype (particularly, I, II, IVa, VI), age at presentation, and severity of systemic and cardiac manifestations.