Systemic Amyloidosis Caused by Monoclonal Immunoglobulins: Soft Tissue and Vascular Involvement

Supportive care for systemic amyloidosis: International Society of Amyloidosis (ISA) expert panel guidelines

Systemic amyloidosis refers to a group of protein misfolding disorders resulting in organ deposition with amyloid, leading to organ dysfunction, ultimately resulting in organ failure and death if not successfully treated. Treatment is type-specific and aimed at the underlying source of the misfolded protein. In the past decades, treatments have become increasingly available across the various amyloidosis types with improved response rates and longer survival. Supportive care measures are an integral part of care for patients with systemic amyloidosis to improve symptom burden and quality of life, reduce healthcare costs, and potentially prolong survival while type-directed therapy takes effect. In these guidelines, we provide supportive care recommendations across eight areas of interest in systemic amyloidosis: cardiology, nephrology, peripheral neuropathy, central nervous system involvement, autonomic neuropathy, gastroenterology, coagulopathy and bleeding, nutrition and hematology. These guidelines were developed on behalf of the International Society of Amyloidosis (ISA) by experts in the above fields and provide the best available evidence and expertise for supportive care in these rare disorders.

Periorbital Purpura: A Key Finding in Identifying Hematological Disorders

Periorbital purpura, also known as "raccoon eyes," is the key finding in identifying hematological disorders such as amyloid light chain amyloidosis, multiple myeloma, or monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance.

‘Here comes the story of the Hurricane’: a case report of AL cardiac amyloidosis and myocardial bridging

Background

Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is a rapidly progressive infiltrative cardiomyopathy, whose role is emerging as a not-so-rare disorder leading to heart failure (HF). Myocardial bridge (MB) is the most common inborn coronary artery variant, and its clinical relevance is still matter of debate. The exceptional coexistence of these two conditions could accelerate disease progression and worsen the already compromised clinical conditions.

Case summary

We present the case of a 76-year-old female patient experiencing relapsing HF decompensation and presenting to our centre with dyspnoea at rest and severe peripheral congestion. Echocardiogram showed severe concentric hypertrophy, severe biventricular contractile dysfunction, and third-degree diastolic dysfunction. Coronary angiography excluded epicardial atherosclerotic disease, though displaying a long intramyocardial course of left anterior descending artery. Physiological invasive test was achieved in terms of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR), both at baseline and after inotropic and chronotropic stimuli, and attested haemodynamic significance. Concurrently, the diagnostic flow chart for CA was accomplished, by means of both invasive (periumbilical fat biopsy, bone marrow aspiration) and non-invasive tests (^99mTc-diphosphonate scintigraphy, serum-urine immunofixation) that confirmed the suspect of primary amyloidosis. Acute HF therapy was personalized according to the singularity of the case, avoiding both nitrates and beta-blockers, then first cycle of chemotherapy was started.

Discussion

Our clinical case shows a unique interaction between infiltrative cardiomyopathy and coronary artery abnormality. Amyloidosis can contribute to the ischaemic burden of the MB and this may, in turn, abbreviate the path to HF decompensation.

Supportive Care and Symptom Management for Patients With Immunoglobulin Light Chain (AL) Amyloidosis

Immunoglobulin light chain (AL) amyloidosis is a disorder of clonal plasma cells characterized by deposition of amyloid fibrils in a variety of tissues, leading to end-organ injury. Renal or cardiac involvement is most common, though any organ outside the central nervous system can develop amyloid deposition, and symptomatic presentations may consequently vary. The variability and subtlety of initial clinical presentations may contribute to delayed diagnoses, and organ involvement is often quite advanced and symptomatic by the time a diagnosis is established. Additionally, while organ function can improve with plasma-cell-directed therapy, such improvement lags behind hematologic response. Consequently, highly effective supportive care, including symptom management, is essential to improve quality of life and to maximize both tolerance of therapy and likelihood of survival. Considering the systemic nature of the disease, close collaboration between clinicians is essential for effective management.

2021 Advocacy Statements for the Role of 99mTc-Pyrophosphate Scintigraphy in the Diagnosis of Transthyretin Cardiac Amyloidosis: A Report of the Taiwan Society of Cardiology and the Society of Nuclear Medicine of the Republic of China

Transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR-CM) is an increasingly recognized cause of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Favorable prognosis depends on early diagnosis and correct treatment strategy. Among patients for whom there is a high clinical suspicion of cardiac amyloidosis, 99mTc-labeled bone avid scintigraphy including 99mTc-pyrophosphate (PYP) scintigraphy may be of diagnostic and prognostic importance. Various international guidelines support the non-biopsy diagnosis of ATTR-CM using 99mTc-PYP scintigraphy, yet emphasize the gap in standardization of acquisition and imaging analysis protocols, as well as the appropriateness of its clinical use. Therefore, a joint expert consensus has been reached by the Taiwan Society of Cardiology and the Society of Nuclear Medicine of the Republic of China, to advocate for the application of 99mTc-PYP scintigraphy in the diagnosis of ATTR-CM. This article aims to highlight the recommendations on image acquisition, qualitative and quantitative assessments of cardiac 99mTc-PYP uptake, and diagnostic algorithms. We hope the implementation of these recommendations in Taiwan will facilitate the process and enhance the diagnostic rate of ATTR-CM.

Amyloid arthropathy in smoldering myeloma: Do not take it lightly

We report a case of smoldering multiple myeloma patient who developed signs and symptoms consistent with polyarthritis. A PET-CT demonstrated marked FDG activity in multiple joints, concerning for inflammatory arthritis. Arthrocentesis from the glenohumeral joint was consistent with inflammatory synovial fluid with no evidence for infection or crystals. Congo-red stain of the synovial fluid was positive, and mass-spectrometry based amyloid typing was consistent with wild-type transthyretin type. The patient responded instantly to glucocorticoids. This case reports highlights the feasibility of non-tissue diagnosis of amyloidosis using body fluids and underscores the importance of accurate typing to avoid erroneous treatment