Summary
Amyloidosis in the emergency department
Carbonell Torregrosa MA, Beneyto Ripoll MC, Peinado Cabrera EJ
Affiliation of the authors
EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT, HOSPITAL VIRGEN DE LA SALUD, ELDA, ALICANTE
DOI
Quote
Carbonell Torregrosa MA, Beneyto Ripoll MC, Peinado Cabrera EJ. Amyloidosis in the emergency department. Emergencias. 2007;19:96-8
Summary
Primary systemic amyloidosis is a rare disorder caused by the deposition
of immunoglobulin light chains in various tissues. The
symptoms depend on the organs that have become infiltrated:
kidney, skin, heart, etc. This diagnosis should be suspected in a patient
with any of the following: proteinuria in the nephrotic range, heart failure,
restrictive myocardiopathy, unexplained hepatomegaly, peripheral
neuropathy or skin manifestations, the latter being quite often the index
finding in this disease. Cardiac involvement occurs in almost one-half
of the cases and is associated to a poor prognosis. We report the case
of a 70-year-old female seen at the Emergency Outpatient Clinic with
symptoms of heart failure and dermal lesions; a biopsy of the abdominal
fat led to the diagnosis of primary amyloidosis.