[Type 1 glutaric aciduria: clinical and therapeutic implications]

Type 1 glutaric aciduria is a genetic disease that produces a deficiency in the glutaryl CoA dehydrogenase enzyme. This deficiency entails an elevation of glutaric acid and 3-OH glutaric acid. Dystonia is the predominant symptom. The symptoms appear after an asymptomatic period during the first months of life. It may present chronically and insidiously or acutely as metabolic encephalopathy during a banal infectious condition or vaccination. Treatment with Carnitine, protein restriction and early approach of the hypermetabolism conditions has been shown to be effective in decreasing the encephalopathy episodes in the first years of life.

A 16 year old woman with macrocrania and picture of insidious onset of left hemidystonia from 6 months of age. Early treatment was begun as she had a sister suffering from type 1 glutaric aciduria. She has a clinical picture with less seriousness than her sister even though both have the same genotype.

This disease must be considered when there is dystonic cerebral palsy and paternal consanguinity. Early onset of treatment could entail a decrease in the symptoms even in cases of insidious initiation. This would suggest therapeutic maintenance even after having passed the age in which acute encephalopathies occur.