hepatoerythropoietic porphyria

porphyria /por·phy·ria/ (por-fēr´e-ah) any of a group of disturbances of porphyrin metabolism characterized by increase in formation and excretion of porphyrins or their precursors.

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acute intermittent porphyria  (AIP) hereditary hepatic porphyria due to a defect of pyrrole metabolism, with recurrent attacks of abdominal pain, gastrointestinal and neurologic disturbances, and excessive amounts of δ-aminolevulinic acid and porphobilinogen in the urine.

congenital erythropoietic porphyria  (CEP) a form of erythropoietic porphyria, with cutaneous photosensitivity leading to mutilating lesions, hemolytic anemia, splenomegaly, excessive urinary excretion of uroporphyrin and coproporphyrin, and invariably erythrodontia and hypertrichosis.

porphyria cuta´nea tar´da  (PCT) a form characterized by cutaneous sensitivity that causes scarring bullae, hyperpigmentation, facial hypertrichosis, and sometimes sclerodermatous thickenings and alopecia; it is associated with reduced activity of an enzyme of heme synthesis.

erythropoietic porphyria  that in which excessive formation of porphyrin or its precursors occurs in bone marrow normoblasts, including congenital erythropoietic porphyria and erythropoietic protoporphyria.

hepatic porphyria  that in which the excess formation of porphyrin or its precursors occurs in the liver.

hepatoerythropoietic porphyria  (HEP) a severe form of porphyria cutanea tarda believed to result from a lack of activity of the enzyme catalyzing the conversion of uroporphyrinogen to coproporphyrinogen in the biosynthesis of heme.

variegate porphyria  (VP) a hereditary hepatic porphyria, with chronic skin manifestations, chiefly extreme mechanical fragility of the skin, mainly of areas exposed to sunlight, episodes of abdominal pain, neuropathy, and typically an excess of coproporphyrin and protoporphyrin in bile and feces.

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hepatoerythropoietic porphyria (HEP)

[hep′ə·tō·ərith′rōpoi·et′ik]

Etymology: Gk, hēpar, liver + erythros, red + poiein, to make

a severe homozygous form of porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) believed to result from an autosomal-dominant defect in the same enzyme activity as PCT. It is clinically identical to PCT, but onset is in early childhood, and activity of the affected enzyme in liver, erythrocytes, and fibroblasts is virtually absent.