Short-term outcome of propionic aciduria treated at presentation with N-carbamylglutamate: a retrospective review of four patients.

N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) has been reported to decrease ammonia levels in patients with propionic aciduria (PA) and methylmalonic aciduria (MMA), but reports on clinical outcomes remain scant. Here, we report a retrospective series of four patients with neonatal PA treated with NCG at presentation. Patients presented between 2 and 9 days of age and peak plasma ammonia ranged from 524 to 1,572 μM. Patients received bolus (30-200 mg/kg) and sustaining (115-300 mg/kg per day) doses of NCG in addition to a standard treatment regimen that included ammonia scavenger drugs. Ammonia levels decreased significantly in three of the four cases within 2 h after administration of NCG and fell below 100 μM in all within 12-29 h. Two patients received NCG (bolus 200 mg/kg) while ammonia was above 500 μM (740 and 1,572) and their levels fell below 500 μM by 4 and 8 h post-treatment, respectively. Outcomes of these NGC-treated patients were not improved over previously reported PA patients who did not receive NCG: two died during the initial episode and one after his third metabolic decompensation at 46 days. The survivor is now 3 years old and has a well-controlled seizure disorder and a mild developmental delay mostly in language. We conclude that despite a trial of NCG and a rapid fall in plasma ammonia, the short-term outcome of these patients was not improved.