JIMD Reports (Sep 2019)

Clinical course in a patient with myopathic VLCAD deficiency during pregnancy with an affected baby

  • Kenji Yamada,
  • Keiichi Matsubara,
  • Yuko Matsubara,
  • Asami Watanabe,
  • Sanae Kawakami,
  • Fumihiro Ochi,
  • Kozue Kuwabara,
  • Yuichi Mushimoto,
  • Hironori Kobayashi,
  • Yuki Hasegawa,
  • Seiji Fukuda,
  • Seiji Yamaguchi,
  • Takeshi Taketani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/jmd2.12061
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 49, no. 1
pp. 17 – 20

Abstract

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Abstract Very long‐chain acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD) deficiency is an autosomal recessive mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation disorder that manifests in three clinical forms: (a) severe, (b) milder, and (c) myopathic. Patients with the myopathic form present intermittent muscular symptoms such as myalgia, muscle weakness, and rhabdomyolysis during adolescence or adulthood. Here, the clinical symptoms and serum creatine kinase (CK) levels of a pregnant 31‐year‐old woman with the myopathic form of VLCAD deficiency were reduced during pregnancy. Clinical symptoms rarely appeared during pregnancy, although she had sometimes suffered from muscular symptoms before pregnancy. When ritodrine was administered for threatened premature labor at 35 weeks of gestation, her CK level was elevated to over 3900 IU/L. She delivered a full‐term baby via cesarean section but suffered from muscle weakness with elevated CK levels soon after delivery. It has been reported that an unaffected placenta and fetus can improve maternal β‐oxidation during pregnancy. However, in our case, the baby was also affected by VLCAD deficiency. These suggest that the clinical symptoms of a woman with VLCAD deficiency might be reduced during pregnancy even if the fetus is affected with VLCAD deficiency.

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