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doença de Lesch-Nyhan

Last reviewed: 13 Sep 2025
Last updated: 03 Jun 2025

Summary

Definition

History and exam

Key diagnostic factors

  • idade <12 meses
  • cristais de "areia" laranja nas fraldas
  • nefrolitíase
  • sinais piramidais
  • atrofia testicular
  • sexo masculino
  • atraso do desenvolvimento
  • movimentos involuntários
  • hipotonia generalizada
  • comportamento autolesivo, geralmente em idade <5 anos
  • comportamento autolesivo com foco na boca e nos dedos
  • distúrbios cognitivos
  • retardo do crescimento
  • distonia de ação
  • história familiar positiva
Full details

Risk factors

  • história familiar positiva
Full details

Diagnostic investigations

1st investigations to order

  • nível de ácido úrico sérico
  • excreção de ácido úrico na urina de 24 horas
  • análise genética da hipoxantina-guanina fosforibosiltransferase (HPRT)
  • atividade da enzima hipoxantina-guanina fosforibosiltransferase (HPRT)
Full details

Investigations to consider

  • ressonância nuclear magnética (RNM) cranioencefálica
Full details

Treatment algorithm

ONGOING

todos os pacientes

Contributors

Authors

Jasper E. Visser, MD, PhD

Neurologist

Department of Neurology

Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center

Nijmegen

The Netherlands

Disclosures

JEV has received research grants from the Dutch Research Council (NWO), the Dutch Brain Foundation, the National Institute for Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the LND Famiglie Italiane ODV, and the University of Pennsylvania Orphan Disease Center in partnership with the Love Never Sinks Organization to conduct scientific research relevant to this topic.

H. A. Jinnah, MD, PhD

Professor

Departments of Neurology and Human Genetics

Emory University

Atlanta

GA

Disclosures

HAJ has served on the Scientific Advisory Boards for the Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome Children's Research Foundation in the US and for Lesch-Nyhan Action in France. He has received grant support from the NIH, the Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome Children's Research Foundation, and Psyadon Pharmaceuticals for research on Lesch-Nyhan disease.

Peer reviewers

Stephen G. Reich, MD

Professor

Department of Neurology

The University of Maryland School of Medicine

Baltimore

MD

Disclosures

SGR is co-author of a study referenced in this topic.

Pavel Seeman, MD, PhD

Associate Professor (Doc)

Head of the DNA Laboratory

Department of Child Neurology

Second School of Medicine

Charles University

Prague

and University Hospital Motol

Prague

Czech Republic

Disclosures

PS declares that he has no competing interests.

Peer reviewer acknowledgements

BMJ Best Practice topics are updated on a rolling basis in line with developments in evidence and guidance. The peer reviewers listed here have reviewed the content at least once during the history of the topic.

Disclosures

Peer reviewer affiliations and disclosures pertain to the time of the review.

References

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Key articles

Lesch M, Nyhan WL. A familial disorder of uric acid metabolism and central nervous system function. Am J Med. 1964;36:561-570. Abstract

Visser JE, Bar PR, Jinnah HA. Lesch-Nyhan disease and the basal ganglia. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2000 Apr;32(2-3):449-75. Abstract

Jinnah HA, Ceballos-Picot I, Torres RJ, et al; Lesch-Nyhan Disease International Study Group. Attenuated variants of Lesch-Nyhan disease. Brain. 2010 Mar;133(Pt 3):671-89.Full text  Abstract

Fu R, Ceballos-Picot I, Torres RJ, et al; Lesch-Nyhan Disease International Study Group. Genotype-phenotype correlations in neurogenetics: Lesch-Nyhan disease as a model disorder. Brain. 2014 May;137(Pt 5):1282-303.Full text  Abstract

Jinnah HA, Visser JE, Harris JC, et al. Delineation of the motor disorder of Lesch-Nyhan disease. Brain. 2006 May;129(Pt 5):1201-17.Full text  Abstract

Reference articles

A full list of sources referenced in this topic is available to users with access to all of BMJ Best Practice.

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