Reversible Cardiomyopathy Due to Selenium Deficiency

Abstract

Selenium is an essential trace element and a component of glutathione peroxidase, an enzyme that may help to prevent oxidative damage to cells. Selenium deficiency has been linked to the development of Keshan disease, a dilated congestive cardiomyopathy occurring primarily in children living in rural China.¹ Sporadic cases have been reported in the United States in individuals with poor nutritional intake,^2-5 mostly in individuals on long-term home parenteral nutrition. This report describes a young black woman with Crohn's disease in whom a congestive cardiomyopathy developed and was subsequently reversed following administration of selenium. (Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 13:663-665, 1989)