Patients with primary carnitine deficiency treated with L-carnitine are alive and doing well-A 10-year follow-up in the Faroe Islands.

Abstract

Primary carnitine deficiency (PCD) can be lethal. Carnitine is essential for the transfer of long-chain fatty acids across the inner mitochondrial membrane for β-oxidation. The reported prevalence of PCD in the Faroe Islands of 1:300 is the highest in the world. The Faroese PCD patient cohort has been closely monitored and we now report results from a 10-year follow-up study of 139 PCD patients. Four patients have died of natural causes since diagnosis. There were no signs of cardiac complications related to PCD. 70.5% reported an effect of L-carnitine treatment. 33.7% reported current symptoms with fatigue and low stamina being the most common. 65.1% had experienced side effects during L-carnitine treatment. Most common side effects were fish odor, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. The overall mean L-carnitine dosage was 66.3 mg/kg/day. Free p-carnitine was similar between male and female patients on L-carnitine-18.6 and 18.8 μmol/L, respectively. L-carnitine supplementation seems to be a safe and effective treatment when suffering from PCD. PCD patients in the Faroe Islands are alive and doing well more than 10 years after diagnosis.