Revista de Investigación Clínica y Bioética

Abstracto

Amyloidosis: Diagnosis and Treatment

Mishi Bhushan

Amyloidosis is a heterogenous acquired or hereditary collection of disease entities that presents as a localized disease or multisystemic disorder due to the abnormal deposition of beta-sheet fibrillar protein aggregates in tissue. Classification depends on amyloid type and pathophysiology is multifactorial. Diagnosis by tissue biopsy, immunohistochemistry, gene sequencing, mass spectrometry, and electron microscopy as well as demonstration of congo red staining with apple-green birefringence under polarized light is characteristic. Imaging with echocardiogram, EKG, MRI and CT scan illustrate the degree of organ damage. Treatment is variable and usually depends on the type of amyloidosis. We discuss the ethical dilemmas of diagnosis and treatment of amyloidosis.