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Start free with EleplanMedium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency
ORPHA:42Disease
Also called ACADM deficiency · Carnitine deficiency secondary to medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency · MCAD deficiency · MCADD · Medium chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency
What it is
Medium chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency (MCADD) is an inborn error of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation characterized by a rapidly progressive metabolic crisis, often presenting as hypoketotic hypoglycemia, lethargy, vomiting, seizures and coma, which can be fatal in the absence of emergency medical intervention.
Key facts
- Prevalence
- 1-9 / 100 000
- Age of onset
- Infancy, Neonatal
- Inheritance
- Autosomal recessive
- Classified as
- Disease
Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.
Signs and symptoms
Common30–79%
12Sometimes5–29%
25- Abnormal lactate dehydrogenase activity
- Arrhythmia
- Ataxia
- Bilateral tonic-clonic seizure
- Cachexia
- Cardiomegaly
- Coma
- Delayed speech and language development
and 17 more in this range
These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.
Gene
ICD-10 codes
ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.
Related health topics
Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.
Cross-references
Orphadata Science: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999. Data version 2026-06-23. Available under CC BY 4.0. This is a reference, not medical advice.
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