Porphyrias, as most rare diseases, are characterized by complexity and scarcity of knowledge. A national registry in one of the largest European populations that prospectively collects longitudinal clinical and laboratory data are an important and effective tool to close this gap. The German Porphyria Registry (PoReGer) was founded by four centers with longstanding expertise in the field of porphyrias and rare diseases (Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Porphyria Center Saxony Chemnitz, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, University Medical Center Göttingen) and the German reference laboratory for porphyria, and is supported by the largest German porphyria patient organization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Acute porphyrias (APs) are a group of rare metabolic diseases related to a disturbed heme biosynthesis. Symptoms may first occur as life threatening attacks, comprising abdominal pain and/or variable neuro-psychiatric symptoms, thus leading to presentation in emergency departments (ED) first. Due to the low prevalence, diagnosis of AP is often missed, even after readmission to the ED.
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