1/113. Nodular amyloidosis treated with a pulsed dye laser.BACKGROUND: Nodular amyloidosis is a rare form of primary localized cutaneous amyloidosis which is characterized by single or multiple nodules located on the extremities, trunk, genitalia, or face. OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical and histologic response of nodular amyloidosis to pulsed dye laser treatment. methods: biopsy-proven amyloid nodules were treated with a 585-nm pulsed dye laser (average fluence 5.25 J/cm2; 10 mm spot) at 6- to 8-week time intervals. Clinical and histologic examination of laser-irradiated nodules were performed before and 6 weeks after the final laser treatment. RESULTS: Clinical improvement in the color, size, and pliability of nodules was noted and maintained for 6 months. Histologic examination revealed decreased inflammation and improvement in dermal collagen after laser irradiation. CONCLUSIONS: Since amyloid fibrils may be formed in association with dermatan sulfate-an essential matrix component in collagen fiber formation, it is postulated that the improvement seen in amyloid nodules after pulsed dye laser treatment may be attributed to a mechanism similar to that seen with hypertrophic scars.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/113. Fatal cervical spondyloarthropathy in a hemodialysis patient with systemic deposition of beta2-microglobulin amyloid.Destructive spondyloarthropathy is a serious complication in patients with end-stage renal disease. We report a case of fatal cervical spondyloarthropathy in a patient on hemodialysis who presented with severe pain in the cervical area. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the cervical spine showed a soft tissue mass at the cervico-occipital hinge with spinal cord compression and destructive lesions of the cervical vertebrae. The patient became quadriplegic during the MRI procedure and died a few days later. Postmortem examination showed deposition of beta2-microglobulin in the cervico-occipital hinge. A unique feature of this case was the documented presence of systemic beta2-microglobulin amyloid deposits involving the spleen that to our knowledge has not been reported previously. Clinical suspicion and early detection of lesions caused by dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA) may help to prevent significant morbidity and mortality in long-term dialysis patients.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/113. Progression of cardiomyopathy and neuropathy after liver transplantation in a patient with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy caused by tyrosine-77 transthyretin variant.Familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy is an inherited form of amyloidosis associated with a mutant form of a protein called transthyretin. The methionine-30 variant is the most frequent mutation observed. This disorder is caused by deposition of this protein as amyloid in several organs, such as the heart, kidneys, and peripheral nervous system. The disease is always progressive and fatal, and patients die 7 to 10 years after the onset of symptoms. liver transplantation is at present the only choice for these patients because it provides improvement of symptoms and/or stops progression of the disease in most patients. We report the case of a patient who showed clear progression of cardiomyopathy and neuropathy after liver transplantation.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/113. amyloidosis: recognition, confirmation, prognosis, and therapy.amyloidosis should be considered in any patient older than 40 years who has nephrotic syndrome, congestive heart failure (not on an ischemic basis), idiopathic peripheral neuropathy, or unexplained hepatomegaly. When a patient has one of these problems, immunoelectrophoresis and immunofixation of the serum and urine should be done for the detection of a monoclonal light chain. If a monoclonal light chain is found, a diagnosis usually can be established by amyloid stains performed on a bone marrow biopsy specimen or a subcutaneous fat aspirate. The presence or absence of cardiac involvement with amyloid is the most important prognostic factor. Treatment can range from observation to oral chemotherapy to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. A practical understanding of the mechanisms underlying this disease can lead to prompt diagnosis and early therapeutic intervention.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 280.61940137296keywords = subcutaneous fat, fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/113. Benign monoclonal gammopathy turning to AL amyloidosis after kidney transplantation.The fate of preexisting benign monoclonal gammopathy after organ transplantation is largely unknown. We report the case of a 47-year-old male kidney graft recipient with a pretransplantation IgG kappa monoclonal gammopathy who developed, 10 years after transplantation, de novo augloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis involving skin and kidney graft. The potential role of heavy immunosuppressive treatment in the development of this complication is discussed. The possible occurrence of AL amyloidosis should be kept in mind when a patient with benign monoclonal gammopathy is evaluated for organ transplantation, as well as when a transplanted patient with pre-existing monoclonal gammopathy develops new onset of proteinuria.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/113. Reversal of nephrotic syndrome due to AA amyloidosis in psoriatic patients on long-term colchicine treatment. Case report and review of the literature.A case of nephrotic syndrome due to AA amyloidosis in a young woman suffering from erythrodermic psoriasis and psoriatic arthropathy is reported. The nephrotic syndrome regressed completely during long-term (57 months) colchicine treatment. There are 39 case reports in the literature of psoriasis associated with amyloidosis. More than 85% of these patients had concomitant arthropathy. This suggests that arthritis may be an important factor in the appearance of amyloidosis. 59% of psoriatics with amyloidosis had renal failure and 56% of them died shortly after diagnosis of amyloidosis. These observations support the view that amyloidosis associated with psoriasis is an aggressive disease that may be fatal. However, the clinical course of our patient suggests that renal amyloidosis associated with psoriasis may be successfully treated by colchicine.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/113. The new apolipoprotein a-i variant leu(174) --> Ser causes hereditary cardiac amyloidosis, and the amyloid fibrils are constituted by the 93-residue N-terminal polypeptide.We identified a novel missense mutation in the apolipoprotein a-i gene, T2069C Leu(174) --> Ser, in a patient affected by familial systemic nonneuropathic amyloidosis. The amyloid deposits mostly affected the heart of the proband, who underwent transplantation for end-stage congestive heart failure. Amyloid fibrils of myocardial and periumbilical fat samples immunoreacted exclusively with anti-ApoA-I antibodies. Amyloid fibrils extracted from the heart were constituted, according to amino acid sequencing and mass spectrometry analysis, by an amino-terminal polypeptide ending at Val(93) of apolipoprotein a-i (apoA-I); no other significant fragments were detected. The mutation segregates with the disease; it was demonstrated in the proband and in an affected uncle and excluded in three healthy siblings. The plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein and apoA-I were significantly lower in the patient than in unaffected individuals. This represents the first case of familial apoA-I amyloidosis in which the mutation is outside the polypeptide fragment deposited as fibrils. Visualization of the mutation in the three-dimensional structure of lipid-free apoA-I, composed of four identical polypeptide chains, indicates that position 174 of one chain is located near position 93 of an adjacent chain and suggests that the amino acid replacement in position 174 is permissive for a proteolytic split at the C-terminal of Val(93).- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/113. Acute leukemia following prolonged cytotoxic agent therapy.1. Nine patients in whom acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia (ANLL) developed following prolonged alkylating agent therapy are described. Five of the patients received no radiotherapy. The conditions treated were: Hodgkin's disease (four patients), primary amyloidosis, primary macroglobulinemia, malignant lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and carcinoma of the tonsil. 2. Prior to the advent of chemotherapy, this complication was not observed in large series of patients with lymphoproliferative disorders and multiple myeloma. However, the medical literature now contains at least 125 other detailed reports of ANLL developing after prolonged cytotoxic agent therapy. 3. multiple myeloma and Hodgkin's disease, both of which commonly have good responses to chemotherapy, predominate as the underlying diseases. However, 35% of the case reports involve patients with other illnesses, including 12 patients who did not have neoplasms. 4. More than half of the patients developing ANLL have received chemotherapy alone without radiotherapy. 5. At least half of the patients developing ANLL experienced long periods of significant cytopenia during therapy, often with documentation of bone marrow dysplasia. 6. The wide variety of drugs associated with this complication suggests that any cytotoxic agent may be leukemogenic. However, alkylating agents overwhelmingly predominate as the class of compounds which are most often associated with terminal ANLL. 7. The vast majority of patients reported in the literature with ANLL complicating underlying malignancies have received cytotoxic drugs for prolonged periods (median 3 1/2 years) and leukemia developed most commonly 3 to 5 years after the diagnosis of the underlying disease. Most of these patients benefited from therapy and survived longer (median 5 years) than historical control of untreated patients. 8. The leukemogenic potential in man of prolonged cytotoxic agents therapy, especially with alkylating agents, seems to be well established. This evidence admonishes against the prolonged use of these drugs in non-fatal disorders. 9. More accurate assessment of risk: benefit ratios awaits the results of prospective controlled studies. The results of these studies could also lead to significant modifications in recommendations for long-term maintenance therapy with cytotoxic agents.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/113. Hereditary renal amyloidosis associated with variant lysozyme in a large English family.BACKGROUND: Two kindreds with hereditary systemic amyloidosis caused by the first two mutations to be described in the human lysozyme gene were discovered recently and study of the variant lysozyme has been powerfully informative about mechanisms of amyloid fibrillogenesis. However, the clinical manifestations in these families, additional members of which have lately been identified, have not previously been reported in detail. methods: The proband presented with proteinuria aged 50 and a family history of amyloidosis, and underwent renal biopsy, whole-body serum amyloid P component (SAP) scintigraphy, and sequencing of the lysozyme gene. Her family history and the phenotype of hereditary lysozyme amyloidosis were thoroughly documented and compared with the presentation and natural history of all other known patients with this condition. RESULTS: The proband belonged to an extended English family other members of which were known to have hereditary lysozyme amyloidosis. Those with amyloid in previous generations presented with renal involvement, frequently developed complications due to gastrointestinal amyloid, and died before age 60. All amyloid deposits were composed of lysozyme and complete concordance was established between amyloid and heterozygosity for a point mutation in the lysozyme gene, encoding the previously reported Asp67His substitution in the mature protein. CONCLUSION: The phenotype, reported for the first time in this extended kindred, contrasts with that of an apparently unrelated family carrying the same mutation who presented with spontaneous hepatic haemorrhage and rupture, and with the manifestations in a family with the lysozyme Ile56Thr variant who presented with dermal petechiae before proceeding to fatal visceral amyloidosis. A remarkably wide spectrum of disease can be caused by the same amyloid fibril protein, although renal involvement predominates in all cases except those dying of hepatic rupture.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/113. Amyloid myopathy masquerading as polymyositis.OBJECTIVE: It is not well appreciated that the clinical presentation of amyloid myopathy can mimic that of polymyositis. By retrospective clinicopathologic analysis we determined distinctive features of amyloid myopathy that differentiate the 2 diseases. methods: Two patients with clinical and histologic evidence of an inflammatory myopathy had fatal outcomes despite appropriate treatment for polymyositis. Their clinical course and original pathologic specimens were reviewed. In addition, original tissue samples were obtained and analyzed using congo red staining and immunoperoxidase. RESULTS: The initial diagnosis of polymyositis was supported in both cases by muscle biopsies showing inflammatory infiltrates and elevations of creatine phosphokinase and by classic electromyography. Retrospective evaluation of the initial muscle biopsies disclosed subtle but incontrovertible evidence of vascular amyloid. Further analysis of the original specimens confirmed the presence of immunoglobin light chain (AL) amyloid. CONCLUSION: Amyloid myopathy can mimic polymyositis. Both can have similar clinical symptoms, as well as inflammatory infiltrates on muscle biopsy. Failure to recognize amyloid myopathy deprives patients of potentially life prolonging treatment. congo red staining and immunohistochemical analysis of tissue could prevent misdiagnosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = fat (Clic here for more details about this article) |
| | Next -> |