Case series of light chain systemic amyloidosis in a high complexity hospital in Medellín Serie de casos de amiloidosis sistémica de cadenas ligeras en un hospital de alta complejidad en Medellín

Abstract

Amyloidosis is a group of rare diseases characterized by the abnormal deposit of proteins in the tissues. It can affect any organ except the central nervous system and have a heterogeneous clinical presentation depending on the damage to the involved organ. Methods: We present a descriptive, retrospective case series study of 11 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of light chain amyloidosis in a highly complexity institution in Medellín. The objective was to describe the clinical, paraclinical, and imaging presentation of patients, during a period between 2014 and 2020. A collection of demographic and clinical data from medical records was carried out, to later compare them with data from the literature. Results: A total of 11 patients were found, in which cardiac and renal involvement were the most common. The main symptoms reported were edema in the extremities, asthenia, adynamia, weight loss and dyspnea. The organs where the amyloid deposit was identified by histopathology were bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, kidney, lung and skin. In the electrocardiogram the two main findings were a pattern of low voltage and pseudoinfarction. Left ventricular hypertrophy and pericardial effusion were common echocardiographic findings. Conclusion: the most frequent type of monoclonal gammopathy in the series was due to lambda light chains.