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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffThere's no cure for progeria. Regular monitoring for cardiovascular disease may help with managing your child's condition. Some children undergo coronary artery bypass surgery or dilation of cardiac arteries (angioplasty) to slow the progression of cardiovascular disease.
Certain therapies may ease or delay some of the signs and symptoms. They include:
- Low-dose aspirin. A daily dose may help prevent heart attacks and stroke.
- Other medications. Depending on your child's condition, your doctor may prescribe other medications, such as statins to lower cholesterol or anticoagulants to help prevent blood clots. The use of growth hormone may help increase height and weight.
- Physical and occupational therapy. These may help with joint stiffness and hip problems and may allow your child to remain active.
- Extraction of primary teeth. Your child's permanent teeth may start coming in before his or her baby teeth fall out. Extraction may help prevent problems associated with the delayed loss of baby teeth, including overcrowding and developing a second row of teeth when permanent teeth come in.
Investigational treatment
Drugs known as farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs), which were developed for treating cancer, have shown promise in laboratory studies in correcting the cell defects that cause progeria. FTIs are currently being studied in human clinical trials for treatment of progeria.
- Learning about progeria. National Genome Research Institute. http://www.genome.gov/pfv.cfm?pageID=11007255. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Progeria (Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome). The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec19/ch286/ch286d.html. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Brown TW. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. In: Pagon RA, et al., eds. GeneReviews. Seattle, Wash.: University of Washington; 1993. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=gene&part=hgps. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Meredith MA, et al. Phenotype and course of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;358:592.
- Kieran MW, et al. New approaches to progeria. Pediatrics. 2007;120:834.
- Martini R. Helping children cope with chronic illness. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/developmentor/helping_children_cope_with_chronic_illness. Accessed March 4, 2011.
- Hoecker JL (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 6, 2011.
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