Individuals with carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase (CACT) deficiency can experience variable clinical severity. To date, just over 100 individuals have been reported with CACT deficiency. Two phenotypes have been described: a severe neonatal-onset form and a later-onset form.
Severe Neonatal Form
The clinical features of severe CACT deficiency generally present around age two days, prior to receipt of the newborn screening result. Clinical features include poor feeding, hypotonia, lethargy, arrhythmias, hypoketotic hypoglycemia, hyperammonemia, transaminitis, liver dysfunction with hepatomegaly, and rhabdomyolysis [Rubio-Gozalbo et al 2004, Vitoria et al 2015, Ryder et al 2021]. Most individuals who have been reported did poorly [Vitoria et al 2015, Ryder et al 2021]. However, there have been a limited number of surviving individuals (> 1 year of age) with development ranging from normal to moderate developmental delay and/or intellectual disability, the latter two (developmental delay and intellectual disability) being the most common outcomes [Lee et al 2007, Pierre et al 2007, Vatanavicharn et al 2015, Vitoria et al 2015, Chinen et al 2020, Ryder et al 2021].
Cardiac arrhythmias. The most prominent cardiac feature in the neonatal period is arrhythmia, particularly ventricular tachycardia, followed by various tachyarrhythmias and bradyarrhythmias [Korman et al 2006, Chong et al 2017, Tang et al 2019, Ryder et al 2021]. The following have also been reported [Hsu et al 2001, Ryder et al 2021]:
First-degree atrioventricular block
Left bundle branch block
Right bundle branch block
Broad complex tachyarrhythmia
Atrial flutter
Cardiomyopathy. Most affected individuals develop univentricular or biventricular hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, ranging from mild to severe and varying in age of onset from a few days to several years/childhood [Pande et al 1993, Iacobazzi et al 2004a, Al-Sannaa & Cheriyan 2010, Vatanavicharn et al 2015, Tang et al 2019, Chinen et al 2020, Ryder et al 2021]. Cardiac dysfunction due to reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (<55%) is common. Cardiac findings generally improve as metabolic stabilization is reached through dietary management, carnitine supplementation, or anaplerotic therapy in some cases (see Management) [Iacobazzi et al 2004b, Chinen et al 2020, Ryder et al 2021].
Metabolic derangements can include hypoketotic hypoglycemia, hyperammonemia, transaminitis, liver dysfunction, lactic acidosis, metabolic acidosis, and rhabdomyolysis, all of which can improve with immediate or long-term interventions (see Management). Long-term survivors may continue to experience chronic hyperammonemia and mild-to-moderate hyperCKemia [Ryder et al 2021]; the latter may in some cases be induced or exacerbated by increased physical activity [Authors, personal observation].
Gastrointestinal issues. In individuals who survive long term, feeding issues may persist and use of a feeding tube, including gastrostomy, is often necessary:
Neurologic findings. In addition to hypotonia, affected individuals may also develop tonic-clonic seizures [Vitoria et al 2015, Chinen et al 2020]. This may be due to hypoglycemic/hypoxic brain injury and dietary interventions do not necessarily lead to improvement or resolution of the seizure disorder.
Developmental delay / intellectual disability. Most affected individuals have mild-to-moderate developmental delay and/or intellectual disability. A small number of affected individuals who were diagnosed early and have undergone appropriate treatment have resulting normal growth and development [Lee et al 2007, Pierre et al 2007, Vatanavicharn et al 2015, Vitoria et al 2015, Chinen et al 2020, Ryder et al 2021]. Contributing factors for neurodevelopmental delay are brain injury at presentation (often due to cardiac arrest) and the subsequent frequency and severity of metabolic decompensations featuring hyperammonemia. However, because of the relatively small number of diagnosed individuals, further studies assessing neurocognitive skills are required to provide a better understanding of developmental outcomes.
Neuroimaging. In a small number of affected individuals, neuroimaging has demonstrated cerebral edema, intracranial bleeding, acute ischemia involving the middle cerebral arteries, or moderate cortical loss with delayed myelination [Iacobazzi et al 2004a, Al-Sannaa & Cheriyan 2010, Chinen et al 2020, Ryder et al 2021].
Renal abnormalities may include nephromegaly, renal Fanconi syndrome, proximal renal tubular acidosis, and acute renal injury [Pande et al 1993, Vitoria et al 2015, Ryder et al 2021]. The pathophysiology and natural history of these findings in relation to dietary therapies are unclear.
Prognosis. The severe, neonatal-onset form is often associated with marked enzyme deficiency (<1% of activity) and, if not diagnosed or treated in a timely fashion, death in infancy (<12 months). A limited number of individuals have reached early or late childhood and a couple have survived into early adulthood. From these, only one adult individual appears to remain asymptomatic [Ryder et al 2021].
Causes of death. The most common cause of death is cardiac arrest secondary to arrhythmias (ventricular tachycardia) [Ryder et al 2021]. Other causes include sudden cardiac death, septicemia, or shock secondary to acute infections [Nuoffer et al 2000, Korman et al 2006, Vitoria et al 2015, Tang et al 2019, Ryder et al 2021]. A small number of affected individuals have died because of Reye syndrome or upper GI bleeding in early childhood [Fukushima et al 2013, Vatanavicharn et al 2015]. Postmortem studies have shown steatosis of multiple tissues including myocardium, liver, proximal renal tubules, vascular endothelium, and skeletal myocytes [Morris et al 1998, Yang et al 2001, Korman et al 2006, Vatanavicharn et al 2015, Chinen et al 2020].