• Journal of The Korean Society of Inherited Metabolic disease
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.32-39
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• 2006

Galactosialidosis is a lysosomal storage disease associated with a combined deficiency of ${\beta}$-galactosidase and ${\alpha}$-neuraminidase, secondary to a defect of another lysosomal protective protein. It is a neurodegenerative disorder clinically characterized by psychomotor deterioration, cerebellar ataxia, coarse facies, generalized bony deformity and organomegaly. Three phenotypic subtype are recognized: early infantile, late infantile and juvenile/adult type. We report a 13 months old boy with a late infantile galactosialidosis. He was presented with progressive mental regression and motor disturbance and observed cherry red spot, hearing loss, moderate dysostosis multiplex and vacuolated lymphocytes in peripheral blood. He showed only ${\beta}$-galactosidase deficiency in the lymphocytes and was initially diagnosed as $GM_1$-gangliosidosis type 1. However, further studies revealed the possible defect of ${\alpha}$-neuraminidase suggesting that he was a case of galactosialidosis which was mimicking $GM_1$-gangliosidosis type 1.