Primary localized amyloidosis of the urinary bladder: a case series of 31 patients

Imaging evaluation of amyloidosis of the urinary tract and retroperitoneum

Amyloidosis is a heterogeneous group of disorders and may be classified as systemic or localized on the basis of the distribution of amyloid deposition. Infrequently, the urinary tract and supporting retroperitoneum may be involved, and the imaging findings are nonspecific and diverse. Localized amyloidosis usually involves the bladder and often mimics malignancy. Less frequently, the ureter, renal pelvis, and urethra are involved. The most common findings of amyloid deposition are focal or diffuse wall thickening in the urinary tract with intramural calcification that often results in ureteral obstruction. When the renal parenchyma is involved, patients generally develop nephrotic-range proteinuria, and the kidneys appear atrophic with cortical thinning. In systemic amyloidosis, amyloid may infiltrate the retroperitoneal and pelvic soft tissues, encasing the urinary tract, with diffuse soft-tissue thickening and slowly progressive calcification. In both localized and systemic amyloidosis, amyloid lesions are characteristically hypointense at T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Because myeloma or lymphoma is often present with systemic amyloidosis, biopsy is necessary to diagnose the condition. Amyloid lymphadenopathy characteristically appears as nodal enlargement with calcification and low attenuation at computed tomography. Radiologists should be familiar with the imaging features of amyloidosis that, in the appropriate clinical context, may indicate the diagnosis.

Localized amyloidosis of the genitourinary tract: report of 5 new cases and review of the literature

Primary localized amyloidosis of the genitourinary tract is a rare entity characterized by small pseudotumors localized in the renal pelvis, ureters, or bladder. Amyloid fibrils are derived from immunoglobulin light chains, but no systemic plasma cell proliferation is detected. The clinical and radiologic features mimic urinary tract cancer, and local treatment is indicated. The prognosis is excellent in most cases, although disease recurrence is possible. We report 5 new cases of localized amyloidosis of the urinary tract, with lambda (4/5), or kappa (1/5) chain amyloid protein, involving the bladder (5/5), and the ureter and renal pelvis (1/5), with multiple, bilateral lesions in 1 case. The presenting complaint was painless hematuria in 4 cases. All cases were of primary (AL)-type amyloidosis. All patients underwent extensive investigation, and none presented any signs of generalized amyloidosis. A favorable outcome was observed in every case. We performed a comprehensive review of the literature, and summarize the data.

Primary bladder amyloidosis--case report of a patient with delayed upper urinary tract obstruction 3 years after the diagnosis

Primary bladder amyloidosis is a rare disease. There are approximately 100 reported cases. The lesions can be confused with bladder neoplasm and are characterised histologically by the classical apple green birefringence under polarised light. In this article, we report a 51-year-old lady with known history of primary bladder amyloidosis presenting with gross hydronephrosis 3 years after the first diagnosis. Laparoscopic ileal replacement of bilateral ureters was performed. There was no recurrent ureteric obstruction 2 years after surgery. This case demonstrates the progressive nature of primary amyloidosis of bladder. The diagnosis of primary bladder amyloidosis warrants long-term surveillance of upper urinary tract.

ALkappa(I) (UNK) - primary structure of an AL-amyloid protein presenting an organ-limited subcutaneous nodular amyloid syndrome of long duration. Case report and review

Slowly progressing subcutaneous nodules all over the body were detected in 1994 in an otherwise healthy, now 66-year-old woman (UNK). A first biopsy was taken 10 years ago and revealed amyloid. Immunohistochemistry was suggestive for ALkappa. From a nodular excisate, performed in the same year for cosmetic reasons, amyloid fibrils were extracted. Protein separation according to their size revealed multiple protein fragments below the MW of an intact kappa-light chain. They were identified as kappa-fragments by Western blotting. The kappa-fragments were cleaved into overlapping peptides using tryptic, N-Asp and chymotryptic digests. Peptides were sequenced by Edman-degradation and mass spectrometry. The complete amino acid sequence of the variable region and most of the constant region of ALkappa (UNK) was identified in various fragments comprising positions 1 to 207 of a monoclonal kappa(I)-light chain. Four novel and several rare amino acid exchanges have been identified as compared to 17 amyloidogenic and >100 non-amyloidogenic kappa(I)-sequences published, leading to increased hydrophobicity of ALkappa (UNK). Sequence analysis of C-region peptides allowed one to determine the kappa-allotype as being invb(+). A rabbit antibody was produced against ALkappa(I) (UNK). It strongly reacted with amyloid on formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue sections of the same patient and detected ALkappa-amyloid of many other patients. In contrast, antibodies produced against kappaBJP of subclasses kappa(I)-kappa(IV) failed to label ALkappa (UNK) amyloid deposits. The patient continues to be free of systemic disease, already for 14 years until today.

Classification of amyloidosis by laser microdissection and mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis in clinical biopsy specimens

The clinical management of amyloidosis is based on the treatment of the underlying etiology, and accurate identification of the protein causing the amyloidosis is of paramount importance. Current methods used for typing of amyloidosis such as immunohistochemistry have low specificity and sensitivity. In this study, we report the development of a highly specific and sensitive novel test for the typing of amyloidosis in routine clinical biopsy specimens. Our approach combines specific sampling by laser microdissection (LMD) and analytical power of tandem mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomic analysis. We studied 50 cases of amyloidosis that were well-characterized by gold standard clinicopathologic criteria (training set) and an independent validation set comprising 41 cases of cardiac amyloidosis. By use of LMD/MS, we identified the amyloid type with 100% specificity and sensitivity in the training set and with 98% in validation set. Use of the LMD/MS method will enhance our ability to type amyloidosis accurately in clinical biopsy specimens.

Localised primary amyloidosis of the urinary bladder: case series of two patients

Isolated amyloidosis of the lower urinary tract is rare. This report presents localised primary amyloidosis of the urinary bladder as a rare cause of macroscopic haematuria. Treatment of bladder amyloidosis mainly consists of controlling the haematuria. For small localised lesions, the favoured approach is transurethral resection (TUR) of the lesion.

Lambda II immunoglobulin light chain protein in primary localized rectal amyloidosis

Rectal involvement is usually part of a systemic amyloidosis, whereas, localized rectal amyloidosis is a rare entity. We present a case of asymptomatic localized rectal amyloidoma. Amyloid fibrils were isolated from rectal biopsy tissue and characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) which showed bands at 17 kDa, 21 kDa and 28 kDa, a broad doublet band at 7-8 kDa and weaker bands at 15 kDa and 24 kDa. Edman sequence analysis of the isolated protein and its tryptic peptides showed that the amyloid protein was derived from an immunoglobulin lambdaII-light chain. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case to isolate and chemically characterize amyloid fibrils from a localized rectal amyloidoma. The development of specific therapies for patients with amyloid-associated disorders emphasizes the need to characterize the biochemical nature of the amyloid fibril protein.

[Localized amyloidosis of the ureter]

Localized amyloidosis of the ureter is a rare condition. Because of the difficulty in differentiating between localized amyloidosis and an obstruction due to other benign or malignant conditions of the urinary tract, in some cases even an unnecessary nephroureterectomy is performed. We describe a patient with obstructive amyloidosis of the right ureter. Diagnosis was confirmed by endoscopy with biopsies. The patient was treated successfully by partial ureterectomy and ureteroneocystostomy. No systemic involvement of other organs was detected and after a 2-year follow-up no local recurrence developed.

Primary localized AA type amyloidosis of urinary bladder: Case report of rare cause of episodic painless hematuria

A 45-year-old diabetic man presented with an episodic history of painless gross hematuria. He had had no previous urinary symptoms or any other medical problems. His physical examination, urine cytology, and computed tomography scan findings were normal. Cystoscopy demonstrated two nodular masses in the urinary bladder with a hemorrhagic mucosal surface. Biopsies revealed amyloidosis, and immunohistochemical staining of the specimens defined the process as amyloid AA (mostly seen in secondary amyloidosis). The workup for systemic conditions associated with amyloid AA was negative. This represents an unusual case of primary localized AA-type amyloidosis of the bladder.

The spectrum of localized amyloidosis: a case series of 20 patients and review of the literature

Localized deposition of amyloid may occur in individual organs, in the absence of systemic involvement. The reason for localized deposition is unknown, but it is hypothesized that deposits result from local synthesis of amyloid protein, rather than the deposition of light chains produced elsewhere. We identified 20 cases of localized amyloidosis at our institution between 1993 and 2003. There were 11 males and nine females in the group. The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 65.5 years. Organs involved included skin, soft tissues, oropharynx, larynx, lung, bladder, colon, conjunctiva, and lymph node. In six of nine patients typed, the amyloid light chain was lambda. In those patients where follow-up was available (mean 7.6 years), none developed systemic disease. Localized amyloidosis occurs in a variety of organ systems. Evolution into systemic amyloidosis was not seen in our series of patients, supporting the hypothesis of local production of amyloid protein in these cases.

Refractory hematuria from amyloidosis successfully treated by splenectomy

Systemic amyloidosis can result in a coagulopathy that is associated with low levels of factor X. We present a case of intractable, life-threatening hematuria that was successfully managed with activated recombinant human factor VII and splenectomy.

Localized amyloidosis of the urinary tract: Case series of nine patients

OBJECTIVES

To report 9 cases of primary localized amyloidosis of the urinary tract and correlate the pathologic findings with clinical and cystoscopic information.

METHODS

Patients diagnosed with amyloidosis of the ureters, urinary bladder, or urethra from 1976 to 2003 were identified. Their medical records were reviewed, and histochemical and immunoperoxidase stains were performed on the tissue.

RESULTS

Eight cases of amyloidosis of the urinary bladder and one of the renal pelvis/ureter were identified. None of our cases showed evidence of systemic amyloidosis. Of the 8 patients with amyloidosis of the urinary bladder, 5 presented with gross hematuria and 1 with irritative bladder symptoms and 2 had amyloidosis detected during cystoscopic follow-up for urothelial carcinoma. The patient with amyloidosis of the renal pelvis/ureter presented with flank pain and gross hematuria. The clinical impression was malignancy in 75% of the bladder cases. Most patients with bladder involvement were treated with localized bladder resection; however, 1 patient required total cystectomy for symptom control. Of 5 patients with follow-up information, 2 developed recurrence. The pathologic assessment diagnosed amyloid deposits consistent with primary or AL type amyloid in all cases. Immunoperoxidase stains revealed lymphoid cells in the vicinity of the amyloid deposits to be lambda-restricted in 78% of cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary amyloidosis of the urinary tract is a rare condition that mimics malignancy in its clinical presentation and cystoscopic appearance and on diagnostic imaging. In our study, all cases of urinary amyloid deposits represented localized amyloidosis rather than manifestations of systemic amyloidosis. Monoclonal lymphoid populations evolving from chronic inflammation in the urinary tract may be the source of the amyloid AL proteins.

Amyloidosis: diagnosis and management

Amyloidosis is a rare plasma cell proliferative disorder. The annual incidence in Olmsted County, Minnesota, is 8 in 1,000,000 patients. This is a difficult disorder to diagnose, because the symptoms at presentation are vague and include dyspnea, paresthesias, edema, weight loss, and fatigue. The clinical syndromes at the time of presentation include nephrotic-range proteinuria with or without renal failure, cardiomyopathy, "atypical multiple myeloma," hepatomegaly, and autonomic or peripheral neuropathy. The serum immunoglobulin free light chain assay has been an important step forward in classifying systemic amyloidosis as an immunoglobulin light chain form and in monitoring therapy. Recently, the importance of serum cardiac biomarkers in assessing outcome has been recognized. New therapies developed over the past 5 years include high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell reconstitution, combinations of alkylating agents with dexamethasone, and, most recently, thalidomide.

Localized amyloidosis: a survey of 35 French cases

Since the prognosis of localized amyloidosis remains unclear, we conducted a survey to define the characteristics and the course of this disease. The charts of 35 patients with either laryngeal (14 patients), tracheobronchial (10 patients), colonic (1 patient), or lower urinary tract amyloidosis (10 patients) were analyzed. The average age at diagnosis was 52.7+/-12 years (range 33-73 years). The amyloid protein type was specified to be amyloid light chain (AL) in 15 cases. All patients had undergone additional biopsies (accessory salivary glands, rectal, fat pad and bone marrow aspirates) to rule out a systemic disease. Symptomatic treatments included endoscopic excision and laser therapy. Colchicine and chemotherapy with prednisone and melphalan were prescribed with limited success. During a mean follow-up period of 6.1+/-5.3 years no patient developed a systemic form of amyloidosis. Six deaths were reported, one related to the disease because of a fatal airway hemorrhage. We suggest that immunolabeling studies should be more routinely performed. There was no risk of developing a systemic disease from local amyloid deposits in our survey. However, local evolution can be life-threatening. Such patients should be referred to specialist centers for further evaluation. Management requires close follow-up to exclude recurrence and to determine the appropriate symptomatic treatment.

Amyloidosis

Amyloidosis is an uncommon plasma-cell dyscrasia with an incidence of eight patients per million per year. It is often difficult to recognize because of the myriad symptoms and vague nature of the clinical presentation. Symptoms include fatigue, dyspnea, edema, paresthesias, and weight loss. Clinical syndromes at presentation include nephrotic-range proteinuria with or without renal insufficiency, cardiomyopathy, hepatomegaly, symptomatic peripheral neuropathy, and autonomic failure. Recent advances have occurred in evaluation of patients by using the free light chain assay and new prognostic assessments with cardiac biomarkers. Newly developed therapeutic strategies, involving high-dose and intermediate-dose chemotherapy, have evolved in the last 3 years. This paper reviews a diagnostic pathway clinicians can use to diagnose the disorder, assess a patient's prognosis, and logically plan a therapeutic strategy.

Localized Primary Amyloidosis of the Prostate, Bladder and Ureters

Primary amyloidosis of lower urinary tract is a rare entity and is usually localized to a single site. Its clinical features, and cystoscopic and radiological findings are indistinguishable from neoplastic or inflammatory lesions. We report an unusual case of amyloidosis involving multiple sites (prostatic stroma, trigone and lower ureters) in the lower urinary tract. MRI findings of bladder amyloid, which could be used to suspect this condition, are also described.

Amylose primitive localisée à l'appareil urinaire. À propos de cinq cas

PURPOSE

To describe the clinical and radiographic features of patients with primary localized amyloidosis of the urinary tract.

METHODS

We report a case of localized amyloidosis of the ureters and bladder. The medical records of four other cases from the French Register of localized amyloidosis were reviewed.

RESULTS

The mean age of three men and two women was 53 years. All patients presented with gross hematuria, four patients presented with renal colic, only one patient had irritative lower urinary tract symptoms. Ureter and bladder were involved in three patients, both ureters in two patients and the bladder only, in one patient. Clinical and radiographic presentations mimicked a neoplasia excluded by histologic analysis. Immunohistochemical study was performed in only two cases and revealed lambda light chain amyloidosis. The median follow-up was eight years. Various treatments were performed, and recurrences occurred in two cases. None of the five patients developed monoclonal gammapathy or systemic amyloidosis.

CONCLUSION

Primary localized amyloidosis of the urinary tract is a rare disorder and can easily be confused with a neoplasm. The physiopathology is unknown, the prognosis is usually good. There is no specific treatment, and repeated work-up for systemic amyloidosis is unnecessary as local recurrences appear to be the main complication.

Therapy for immunoglobulin light chain amyloidosis: the new and the old

An accurate diagnosis of amyloidosis and its subtype classification are essential for disease prognostication and treatment. In primary amyloidosis, overall median survival is approximately 2 years and may be less in patients with cardiomyopathy. Current therapy for primary amyloidosis is suboptimal. Controlled studies suggest that treatment with melphalan and prednisone may provide marginal survival benefit. A more aggressive approach such as autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation may offer potential for long-term benefit. Although patients undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation are highly selected, response rates can approach 60%, and patients with amyloidosis who respond to treatment have potential for long-term survival. New treatment modalities that were shown to have antitumor activity in multiple myeloma (high-dose dexamethasone and thalidomide) may also be of therapeutic value in primary amyloidosis. Systemic chemotherapy would not be expected to have any beneficial effect on other forms of amyloid and carries significant risk.

Anurea caused by primary amyloidosis of the lower third of the ureters, the ureterovesical junction and the urinary bladder

Amyloidosis is a systemic disease affecting many organs, characterized by the deposition and accumulation of hyaline, eosiniphilic and proteinaceous material in various tissues. This report presents a patient with anurea caused by primary amyloidosis of the lower third of the ureters, the ureterovesical junction and the urinary bladder.

Localized AL amyloidosis of the colon: an unrecognized entity

Virtually all patients who present with rectal bleeding and amyloid of the colon have evidence of systemic amyloidosis and require therapy. The small subset of patients with amyloidosis localized to the colon must be recognized and treatment avoided. We queried our file for patients who had amyloidosis of the colon but no evidence of systemic amyloidosis during long-term follow-up. We identified 3 patients who presented with rectal bleeding and who, on investigation, had primary amyloidosis of the colon but no evidence of systemic amyloidosis during a follow-up of 4.5 to 20 years. These patients had no evidence of a plasma cell dyscrasia and received no chemotherapy to prevent deposition of amyloid. It is important to recognize this rare subset and avoid treatment with alkylating agents or high-dose therapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation. Alkylating agent therapy may be associated with myelodysplasia or acute leukemia. In addition, the cost, inconvenience, and morbidity of therapy are avoided by observation. Patients who present with rectal bleeding and a subsequent diagnosis of amyloidosis of the colon likely will be subjected to chemotherapy or transplantation. Such patients must be recognized and treatment avoided if there is no evidence of systemic amyloidosis because they remain stable for many years.

Primary localized amyloidosis of the urinary bladder

We report a rare case of localized form of primary amyloidosis (amyloidoma) of the urinary bladder with CT and MR findings. Clinically, it is difficult to distinguish from invasive transitional cell carcinoma and inflammatory lesion. We think that the MR intensity on T2-weighted images is helpful in making the diagnosis.

Primary localized amyloidosis of the bladder: experience with dimethyl sulfoxide therapy

PURPOSE

We present our long-term experience with intravesical dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) for primary localized amyloidosis of the bladder.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study included 4 males and 2 females 28 to 68 years old (mean age 54) at diagnosis of biopsy proven primary localized amyloidosis involving the bladder diffusely or extensively in 1 locale. All patients had normal upper urinary tracts. They continued to be symptomatic (hematuria in 3, irritative voiding symptoms in 1, and hematuria and irritative voiding symptoms in 2) despite conventional transurethral destructive therapy. Every 2 weeks they received 30-minute instillations of 50 ml. 50% DMSO intravesically for 3 months (patient 1), 6 months (1) and 1 year (4).

RESULTS

Therapy failed at 3 and 6 months in 2 patients of whom 1 with a contracted bladder underwent cystectomy and another was stabilized for 1 year with laser therapy. In the remaining 4 patients who were followed for 6 years disease stabilized for 2 to 6 years (mean 3.5) but 3 later required additional therapy including repeat DMSO in 1 and laser therapy in 2.

CONCLUSIONS

Diffuse or locally extensive bladder involvement by primary localized amyloidosis usually fails to respond to conventional transurethral destructive surgical procedures. Collectively, our experience and the literature suggest that intravesical DMSO can be a bladder saving measure and help resolve ureterovesical obstruction in some patients. High recurrence rate mandates lifelong cystoscopic surveillance.

Long-term recurrence of primary amyloidosis of the bladder

An 84-year-old man presented to our department with a recurrence of a primary amyloidosis of the bladder 14 years after the first diagnosis. Follow-up had been stopped 5 years after the first procedure because no cystoscopic anomalies were noted. General evaluation confirmed the diagnosis of primary amyloidosis. The lesions were endoscopically resected. At the 3-year follow-up, the patient was free of symptoms and had remained cystoscopically free of disease. However, stable amyloidosis deposits have always been noted on the computed tomography scans. This case emphasizes the necessity of a longer follow-up, including computed tomography of the pelvis, during the 10 to 15 years after the first occurrence of the disease.

A rare case of painless gross hematuria: primary localized AA-type amyloidosis of the urinary bladder

A 60-year-old Asian woman presented with a 1-year history of painless gross hematuria. She had no prior urologic history and no other medical problems. Her physical examination, urine cytology, and computed tomography scan were normal. Cystoscopy demonstrated several punctate areas of erythema within the bladder. Biopsies revealed amyloidosis, and immunohistochemical staining of the specimens defined the process as amyloid AA (often called secondary amyloidosis). The workup for systemic conditions associated with amyloid AA was negative. This represents an unusual case of primary localized AA-type amyloidosis of the bladder.

Primary localized amyloidosis of the ureter

Primary amyloidosis is a rare condition that can involve the urinary tract. These lesions can occur anywhere in the collecting system and are often mistaken clinically for malignancies. We report a case of localized ureteral amyloidosis. Our treatment consisted of a conservative approach with local resection.