CARDIAC EFFECTS OF CARNITINE DEFICIENCY INDUCED BY ANTIBIOTICS CONTAINING PIVALIC ACID IN CHILDREN

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.