Coenzyme Q10 In the Treatment of IdIopathIc DIlated CardIomyopathy In ChIldren

Elshershari H, Özer S, Özkutlu S, Özme Ş

Hacettepe University Children’s Hospital, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Ankara, Turkey

Background: It has been reported that myocardial mitochondrial function can be improved by the administration of coenzyme Q10 in adults, but there is no report about it's therapeutic effect in children. In fact, coenzyme Q10 has been shown to be deficient in myocardial tissue biopsies taken from dilated cardiomyopathy hearts, compared to normal hearts.

Objectives: To evaluate the role of coenzyme Q10 deficiency in the compromise of cellular bioenergetics in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, the clinical and functional responces to coenzyme Q10 therapy were determined in children.

Patients: Six patients with dilated cardiomyopathy who had congestive heart failure with New York Heart Association class III symptoms and ejection fraction less than 50% during standard therapy were randomly assigned. Intervention: Coenzyme Q10, 10mg/kg/day.

Measurements: Left ventricular systolic function (measured by echocardiography).

Results: After coenzyme Q10 therapy for a mean period of eight months, the clinical symptomatology regressed with improvement of NYHA class from class III to I in all but one case and there was a significant increase in fractional shortening and ejection fraction in five cases.

Conclusion: The improved cardiac function shows that therapy with coenzyme Q10 is remarkably beneficial in children due to correction of coenzyme Q10 deficiency in mechanisms of bioenergetics. Because of the small size of our study, we cannot definitively say that we had documented a therapeutic effect but this treatment should be evaluated in more number of cases.

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