Congenital complete heart block in an infant with free plasma carnitine deficiency.

A newborn male presenting with congenital complete heart block was found to have low levels of free plasma carnitine. Among the many complications of carnitine deficiency is a structural disruption of myocardial tissue. A deficiency of carnitine may be causally related to the presence of cardiac dysrhythmias in this patient on the basis of mechanical disturbance to the cardiac conducting system.