Fatal consequences of limited health literacy in a patient with a rare metabolic disease

Abstract

A Black young adult female diagnosed with argininosuccinate lyase deficiency at 6 months of age encountered significant barriers to care for the first 16 years of her life due to socioeconomic factors and parental neglect. Once in the care of her paternal grandmother, she received appropriate treatment with a nitrogen scavenger, amino acid supplementation, and a low-protein diet. However, due to repeated hyperammonemic crises early in her life, she was minimally communicative and unable to perform activities of daily living. During her final hyperammonemic crisis, she presented to a hospital unfamiliar with urea cycle disorders and without a metabolic service. As a result, she did not receive optimal care and died.