High Tc-99m-DPD myocardial uptake in a patient with apolipoprotein AI-related amyloidotic cardiomyopathy

Amyloidotic cardiomyopathy is still a widely underdiagnosed condition that usually requires endomyocardial biopsy (EMB) for a definite diagnosis. Tc-99m-3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid (Tc-99m-DPD) has proven highly sensitive for detecting amyloidotic cardiomyopathy due to transthyretin-related amyloid deposition. Herein we report the first description of the Tc-99m-DPD scintigraphy profile in a patient with suspected amyloidotic cardiomyopathy and a final EMB- and genetically-proven diagnosis of familial apolipoprotein AI amyloidosis due to Leu174Ser variant

Left ventricular structure and function in transthyretin-related versus light-chain cardiac amyloidosis

Background - : Immunoglobulin amyloid light-chain (AL)-related cardiac amyloidosis (CA) has a worse prognosis than either wild-type (ATTRwt) or mutant (ATTRm) transthyretin (TTR) CA. Detailed echocardiographic studies have been performed in AL amyloidosis but not in TTR amyloidosis and might give insight into this difference. We assessed cardiac structure and function and outcome in a large population of patients with CA and compared findings in TTR and AL-related disease. Methods and Results - : We analyzed 172 patients with CA (AL amyloidosis, n=80; ATTRm, n=36; ATTRwt, n=56) by standard echocardiography and 2-dimensional speckle-tracking imaging-derived left ventricular (LV) longitudinal (LS), radial, and circumferential strains. Despite a preserved LV ejection fraction (55\ub112%), LS was severely impaired in CA. Standard measures of LV function and speckle-tracking imaging worsened as wall thickness increased, whereas apical LS was preserved regardless of the pathogenesis of CA and the degree of wall thickening. Compared with ATTRm and AL amyloidosis, ATTRwt was characterized by greater LV wall thickness and lower ejection fraction. LS was more depressed in both ATTRwt and AL amyloidosis (-11\ub13% and -12\ub14%, respectively, P=0.54) than in ATTRm (-15\ub14%, P<0.01 versus AL amyloidosis and ATTRwt). TTR-related causes were favorable predictors of survival, whereas LS and advanced New York Heart Association class were negative predictors. CONCLUSIONS - : In patients with CA, worsening LV function correlated with increasing wall thickness regardless of pathogenesis. Patients with ATTRwt had a statistically greater wall thickness but lesser mortality than those with AL amyloidosis, despite very similar degrees of LS impairment. This paradox suggests an additional mechanism for LV dysfunction in AL amyloidosis, such as previously demonstrated light-chain toxicity. \ua9 2014 American Heart Association, Inc

Systemic cardiac amyloidoses: disease profiles and clinical courses of the 3 main types

Background—Most studies of amyloidotic cardiomyopathy consider as a single entity the 3 main systemic cardiac amyloidoses: acquired monoclonal immunoglobulin light-chain (AL); hereditary, mutated transthyretin-related (ATTRm); and wild-type transthyretin-related (ATTRwt). In this study, we compared the diagnostic/clinical profiles of these 3 types of systemic cardiac amyloidosis. Methods and Results—We conducted a longitudinal study of 233 patients with clear-cut diagnosis by type of cardiac amyloidosis (AL, n=157; ATTRm, n=61; ATTRwt, n=15) at 2 large Italian centers providing coordinated amyloidosis diagnosis/management facilities since 1990. Average age at diagnosis was higher in AL than in ATTRm patients; all ATTRwt patients except 1 were elderly men. At diagnosis, mean left ventricular wall thickness was higher in ATTRwt than in ATTRm and AL. Left ventricular ejection fraction was moderately depressed in ATTRwt but not in AL or ATTRm. ATTRm patients less often displayed low QRS voltage (25% versus 60% in AL; P<0.0001) or low voltage-to-mass ratio (1.1+/-0.5 versus 0.9+/-0.5; P<0.0001). AL patients appeared to have greater hemodynamic impairment. On multivariate analysis, ATTRm was a strongly favorable predictor of survival, and ATTRwt predicted freedom from major cardiac events. Conclusions—AL, ATTRm, and ATTRwt should be considered 3 different cardiac diseases, probably characterized by different pathophysiological substrates and courses. Awareness of the diversity underlying the cardiac amyloidosis label is important on several levels, ranging from disease classification to diagnosis and clinical management