K. Abrahamsson et al., CARDIAC EFFECTS OF CARNITINE DEFICIENCY INDUCED BY ANTIBIOTICS CONTAINING PIVALIC ACID IN CHILDREN, Cardiology in the young, 7(2), 1997, pp. 178-182
We studied echocardiographically 17 children with depletion of carniti
ne due to treatment over 1-3 years with antibiotics containing pivalic
acid. When the children were depleted of carnitine, the left ventricu
lar posterior wall was significantly thickened in diastole when compar
ed to a reference group. Six months later, after normalisation of the
concentrations of carnitine, the left ventricular posterior wall was s
ignificantly thinner and did not differ from the reference group. We c
onclude that drugs containing pivalic acid, when given for several mon
ths, decrease the stores of carnitine to levels where cardiac involvem
ent occurs.