Is Trientine necessary for long-term use?

For patients who have been diagnosed with hepatolenticular degeneration (a rare disease), Trientine is usually regarded as a treatment drug that requires long-term or even lifelong management. This is closely related to the nature of the disease itself, rather than simply determined by the properties of the drug.

Hepatolenticular degeneration is a hereditary abnormal copper metabolism disease, which currently cannot be "cured" through short-term treatment. Even after symptoms are controlled and liver function or neurological findings stabilize, the underlying problem of abnormal copper metabolism in the body remains. If copper depletion treatment is stopped, copper may still accumulate in the body again, leading to recurrence or progression of the disease.

In actual treatment strategies, the administration phases of trientine usually include:

1) In the initial control stage, reduce the excessive copper load in the body through continuous medication;

2) During the maintenance treatment phase, after the copper level is relatively stable, continue to use trientine to prevent copper from accumulating again;

3) During the long-term follow-up period, the dosage and regimen will be individually adjusted based on the patient's age, disease changes, and tolerance.

Many patients will have questions about "whether the medication can be stopped" after their symptoms improve. However, judging from overseas treatment experience, unauthorized discontinuation of copper-depleting drugs is often one of the important reasons for the recurrence of the condition. Therefore, whether to continue taking medication and whether to adjust the dose must be based on long-term monitoring results and professional evaluation, and cannot be judged solely on subjective feelings.

Overall, trientine is more of a "long-term management tool" than a short-term symptom reliever. Adherence to standardized treatment, regular review and reasonable dietary management are usually more important than simply paying attention to the length of medication.

Keyword tags: long-term use of trientine,Trientine treatment course, management of hepatolenticular degeneration, maintenance treatment of Wilson's disease, copper elimination treatment cycle

Reference materials:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triethylenetetramine