SPECT isotopic examination has become a key technique in the identification of patients with ATTR amyloidosis. This study uses the radioisotope technetium 99m in combination with tracers classically used in the study of the skeletal system.
Considered a rare disease in the past, it is now being diagnosed with increasing frequency. It gives non-specific, often even confusing symptoms. It leads to myocardial failure. Cardiac amyloidosis can be effectively diagnosed and increasingly treated. It is important to be aware of the specificity of the condition and to apply the right procedures, necessarily at the right stage, as patients do not have time for a lengthy diagnostic process," argues Professor Magdalena Kostkiewicz, head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the John Paul II Specialist Hospital in Krakow and an expert of the Polish Society of Nuclear Medicine.
A not uncommon disease
Cardiac amyloidosis was considered a rare disease in the past. Nowadays, it is being diagnosed more and more frequently, although, as Professor Magdalena Kostkiewicz, head of the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the John Paul II Specialist Hospital in Krakow and an expert of the Polish Society of Nuclear Medicine, points out, due to the non-specific symptoms, the diagnosis of this condition can be a significant challenge.
- In the development of cardiac amyloidosis, the deposition of characteristic, insoluble, malformed proteins in the heart plays a key role. According to current knowledge, there may be up to 30 types. Two types are responsible for more than 95 per cent of amyloidosis cases: immunoglobulin light chains - this is AL amyloidosis and transteritin - ATTR amyloidosis. These proteins, accumulating in the myocardium, cause a gradual deterioration of its contractile function; first diastolic function and then systolic function. As the disease progresses, heart failure gradually develops, a serious and irreversible condition, explains Prof Magdalena Kostkiewicz.
There are two forms of ATTR amyloidosis: acquired ATTR of the wild type, also referred to as senile amyloidosis, and the hereditary form. Wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis most commonly affects older men with heart failure. It often co-occurs with carpal tunnel syndrome and lumbar spine lesions. According to recent data, the condition may affect up to 30 per cent of previously undiagnosed cases of patients over 60 years of age with heart failure and sometimes aortic valve defect. The hereditary form of ATTR develops on the basis of mutations in the TTR gene. Reports in Poland include several dozen cases, and endemic foci are present in many countries, including Japan, Italy, Portugal and the USA.
The rest of the article can be found at the link:
https://www.medexpress.pl/amyloidoza-serca-zobacz-ja-na-wlasne-oczy/83801