In the present report, we describe what we believe is the first biochemically documented case of Wilson's disease in a Nigerian.
REPORT OF A CASE
A 15-year-old Nigerian girl was referred to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria, in February 1980 with "choreoathetosis." Her illness began six months before referral when she was unable to write because of tremors in the hands. In less than five months, as the tremors became more severe, she required assistance in walking and eating.She lives in a village 96 km east of Benin City, the capital of Bendel State, Nigeria. Her parents, both of Ibo extraction, came from different villages. The Ibo people inhabit an area in southern Nigeria to the east and west of the Niger River north of its delta.The patient is one of eight children and the fourth of five surviving siblings. Three siblings died