Moyens paracliniques du diagnostic des amyloses

[Bladder AA amyloidosis: A rare location. About a case]

INTRODUCTION

Bladder localization of AA amyloidosis is rare. It can be responsible for massive and recurrent hematuria. We report a case of bladder AA amyloidosis secondary to Crohn's disease in a renal transplant patient.

CLINICAL OBSERVATION

A 62-year-old man, suffering from Crohn's disease since 1991 complicated by renal AA amyloidosis. He received a kidney transplant since 20 years from an HLA identical donor. After an 18-year period of clinical remission, the patient was admitted for a flare-up of his Crohn's disease in the form of intermittent diarrhoea. Treatment with corticosteroids allowed a good evolution. A year later, he was rehospitalized for massive macroscopic haematuria. Histological examination of the bladder biopsy revealed AA amyloidosis. The patient fully recovered but died 6 weeks later from septic shock of urinary origin.

CONCLUSION

The treatment of bladder localization of AA amyloidosis is based on treating the cause. Hematuria is sometimes massive, exceptionally requiring emergency cystectomy for haemostasis.

Prevalence of Subclinical Amyloidosis in a Cross-sectional Study of Egyptian RA Patients without Proteinuria

BACKGROUND

Amyloidosis is a life-threatening complication of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) that should be detected as early as possible to avoid its morbidity and mortality.

OBJECTIVE

To detect subclinical amyloidosis in RA patients without proteinuria and a disease duration more than 5 years.

PATIENTS

Eighty-six RA patients seen between October 2013 and August 2014 were recruited for the study. Those with 5 years disease duration were included in the study but those who had proteinuria, serum creatinine > 1.5 mg/dl, disease onset before the age of 16 years or improper specimens, were excluded, leaving 30 eligible patients (23 women, 7 men). The clinical, laboratory and imaging results and treatments were maintained for each patient. Abdominal Fat Aspiration Biopsy (AFAB) was performed on all 30 patients. Amyloid deposits were spotted by polarised light microscopy following Congo red staining. Informed consent was acquired from all patients. Clinical disease activity was scored according to DAS. ELISA measured serum amyloid A protein (SAA), CRP and RF.

RESULTS

AFAB stained positive for amyloid in 4 (13.3%) patients out of 30. The amyloid deposits were (1+) in 1 patient and (2+) in 3 patients. Longer RA duration correlated positively with amyloidosis (12.50 years versus 6.15years) (P < 0.001). Extra-articular manifestations were present in 50% of the amyloid patients and in 15.3% of the non-amyloid patients. This difference was significant (P < 0.01). DAS 28 score was higher in amyloid patients (P < 0.001). No difference was found between amyloid and non-amyloid patients regarding age, sex or deformities. SAA was significantly higher in amyloid patients (P < 0.001). However, haemoglobin levels were found to be significantly lower in amyloid patients (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of subclinical amyloidosis by AFAB was found to be (13.3%). The use of AFAB should be encouraged, particularly in patients with longer disease duration and low haemoglobin level to confirm early detection of subclinical amyloidosis.

Amyloses multisystémiques

OBJECTIVE

Clinical analysis of multisystem amyloidosis in Lebanon, by histological type.

METHOD

Retrospective study of 39 cases of multisystem amyloidosis diagnosed histologically in a university hospital center between 1991 and 2002. It analyzed the following clinical data: age, gender, type of presentation, time from symptom onset to diagnosis, clinical features, concomitant diseases, family history of amyloidosis, biopsy sites, presence of urinary or serum monoclonal gammopathy, immunohistochemical type, prognosis and treatment.

RESULTS

Median age at diagnosis was 56+/-18 years. The overall ratio of men to woman was 1.4. AL amyloidosis (amyloid light chain) accounted for 54% (21/39) of the cases, AA (amyloid-associated) amyloidosis 36% (14/39), while 10% (4/39) were not typed. Among the 21 cases of AL amyloidosis, 12 were idiopathic (57%) and 9 (43%) were associated with multiple myeloma; among the 14 cases of AA amyloidosis, 7 were associated with familial Mediterranean fever and 5 with chronic disorders. Proteinuria was often the first symptom. The initial manifestations in AL amyloidosis patients with myeloma were more often related to amyloidosis than to myeloma. Renal involvement was seen in 95% (37/39) of all cases (95% of AL versus 93% of AA), proteinuria in 87% of cases and renal failure in 72%. Cardiac amyloidosis (57% of AL versus 7% of AA; p>0.05), infiltration of the tongue (19% of AL versus 0% of AA; p>0.05) and neurological manifestations (24% of AL versus 7% of AA; p>0.05) were more frequent in AL amyloidosis. The 7 patients who died (18%) had AL amyloidosis (5 of them had myeloma). Heart failure was the most frequent cause of death related to amyloid.

CONCLUSION

Multisystem amyloidosis is frequent in Lebanon and familial Mediterranean fever is still frequently associated with the secondary type. Accurate diagnosis and classification are essential for the prognosis and treatment of the disease. Poor prognosis was associated with the AL type, especially when accompanied by myeloma, and with cardiac amyloidosis.