El-Beshlawy A, Abd El Raouf E, Mostafa F, Talaat M, Isma'eel H, Aoun E, Hoffbrand AV, Taher A. Diastolic dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension in sickle cell anemia: is there a role for L-carnitine treatment?
Acta Haematol 2006;
115:91-6. [PMID:
16424656 DOI:
10.1159/000089472]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Clinical manifestations of cardiovascular abnormalities in patients with sickle cell (SC) anemia are well documented. Many variables were assessed in our study before and after administration of L-carnitine to randomly selected 37 SC disease (SCD) children for a period of 6 months. Variables such as weight, height, serum ferritin levels, units of blood transfused and the number of veno-occlusive crises all showed significant improvement after the 6 months of therapy with L-carnitine. Our study also showed that cardiac diastolic function and pulmonary hypertension are common in pediatric SCD patients. These two disorders showed some improvement after L-carnitine administration. Therefore, L-carnitine deserves a rigorous large-scale randomized clinical trial to evaluate its potential benefits as treatment for SCD patients with cardiac complications.
Collapse