Worldwide, SPCD is most common in the Faroe Islands, where at least one out of every 1000 inhabitants of the Faroes have the disorder, according to the Faroese Ministry of Health. Scientists believe that around 10% of the Faroese population are carriers of variants which cause SPCD. These people are not ill, but may have a lower amount of carnitine in their blood than non-carriers. The first Faroese patient was diagnosed with SPCD in 1995, and since then several young people and children in the Faroese Islands have died of cardiac arrest because of SPCD.The addition of SPCD to newborn screening panels has offered insight into the incidence of the disorder around the world. In Taiwan, the incidence of SPCD in newborns was estimated to be approximately 1:67,000, while maternal cases were identified at a higher frequency of approximately 1:33,000. The increased incidence of SPCD in mothers compared to newborns is not completely understood. Estimates of SPCD in Japan have shown a similar incidence of 1:40,000.
Systemic primary carnitine deficiency
Short-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency
Medium-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency
Very long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency
Long-chain 3-hydroxyacyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency
Carnitine-acylcarnitine translocase deficiency
Multiple carboxylase deficiency
Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II deficiency