Table 3.

Adult and child dosages of currently available treatments for Wilson’s disease [45,46,48,72,73,74,75].

Group of WD Patients	Treatment Indications	Medication *	Recommended Dosage for Adults	Recommended Dosage for Children
Symptomatic WD patients	Initial treatment (6 to 12 months)	D–penicillamine	250 mg at alternating days, gradually increasing by 250 mg every 2–4 weeks until 1.0–1.5 g/day in two or three doses (no definitive protocol on the rate of dose escalation)	150–300 mg, titrated until 20 mg/kg/day, given in two or three doses; young adults should take 1.0 g (maximum 1.5 g) daily in two to four doses
		Trientine (heat-sensitive, stored at 2–8 °C)	750 mg, 1.5 g/day in three doses	20 mg/kg/day in two to three divided doses; young adults should take 1.0 g (max. 1.5 g) daily in two to three doses
		Zinc salts	150 mg of elemental zinc/day in three doses	Age > 16 years and body weight > 50 kg: 150 mg of elemental zinc/day in three doses Age 6–16 years and body weight < 50 kg: 75 mg of elemental zinc/day in three doses Age < 6 years: 50 mg of elemental zinc/day in two doses
	Maintenance treatment (lifelong therapy)	D–penicillamine	10–20 mg/kg/day and up to 0.75–1.0 g/day in two doses	900–1500 mg per day in two or three doses
		Trientine (heat-sensitive, stored at 2–8 °C)	900mg, 1.5 g/day (or 10–15 mg/kg/day) in two to three doses; one daily dose of trientine as a maintenance therapy has been suggested and is currently under evaluation	900 mg, 1.5 g/day (or 10–15 mg/kg/day) in two to three doses
		Zinc salts (treatment of choice)	Dosage presented above and tailored individually	Dosage presented above and tailored individually
Asymptomatic WD patients		Zinc salts (treatment of choice)	Dosage presented above and tailored individually	Dosage presented above and tailored individually
		D-penicillamine or trientine	Reduced dosage of 10–15 mg/kg in two to four dosages