(HOME) Subject: amyloidosis/iron
Curr Treat Options Cardiovasc Med 2000 Oct;2(5):431-438
Restrictive Cardiomyopathy.
Artz G, Wynne J
Division of Cardiology, Harper Hospital, 3990 John R. Street, Detroit,
MI 48201, USA. jwynne@intmed.wayne.edu
[Record supplied by publisher]
Of the three major functional categories of cardiomyopathies (dilated,
hypertrophic, and restrictive), the restrictive cardiomyopathies
(RCMs) are the least common in the Western world, but unfortunately
often are associated with the greatest morbidity and mortality.
Infiltrative disease of the myocardium (often caused by amyloidosis)
is a common cause of RCMs and has a significantly lower long-term
survival rate when compared to cardiomyopathies of various other
causes. Treatment of the RCM is, in general, difficult and often
ineffective. Because of the abnormalities of diastolic filling that
are characteristic of this condition, general measures to reduce
venous and systemic congestion such as with the use of diuretics, are
desirable but often result in an attendant reduction in stroke volume
and cardiac output. Digoxin, calcium channel blocking drugs, and
beta-adrenergic blocking agents are of limited value, although they
may be used with benefit to control the heart rate response in the
subgroup of patients with atrial fibrillation. Angiotensin-converting
enzyme inhibitors are generally ineffective in RCM. Targeted therapy
directed against specific causal entities (such as the use of
somatostatin analogues in carcinoid syndrome or iron chelation with
desferrioxamine in hemochromatosis) may be more effective than simple
symptomatic therapy. Differentiation of RCM from constrictive
pericarditis is crucial, since constriction may be treated effectively
by surgical removal of the thickened pericardium. A limited number of
patients appear to have benefited from novel treatment strategies,
such as autologous stem cell transplant in amyloidosis, balloon
valvuloplasty of stenotic tricuspid or pulmonary valves in cardiac
carcinoid syndrome, and cardiac transplantation. Truly effective
therapy for RCM is generally lacking, and the best chance for
optimizing the clinical outcome is early detection and aggressive
medical treatment in an attempt to maintain the highest possible level
of patient function for as long as possible.
PMID: 11096547
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Subject: amyloidosis/iron/bird
Ann N Y Acad Sci 1992 Jun 16;653:184-90
Amyloidosis, hemochromatosis, and atherosclerosis in a roseate flamingo
(Phoenicopterus ruber).
Brayton C
Laboratory Animal Research Center, Rockefeller University, New York,
New York 10021.
An aged male roseate flamingo, in a private collection in the British
Virgin Islands, was found acutely "down." After four days of
supportive therapy, the flamingo succumbed. At necropsy gross lesions
included emaciation; collapsed and thickened, yellow abdominal air
sac; dark red liver, partially covered by friable yellow material; and
a raised, intimal plaque in the aorta near the iliac trifurcation.
Histologic examination revealed severe, diffuse, pyogranulomatous air
sacculitis with associated locally extensive
pleuroperitonitis/perihepatitis. Pansystemic, predominantly
periarteriolar distribution of amyloid deposition was evident, as was
massive intrahepatocellular accumulation of iron pigment
(hemachromatosis/hemosiderosis). A locally extensive, nonobstructive,
fibroatheromatous plaque was present in the distal aorta. Amyloidosis,
hemochromatosis/hemosiderosis, and atherosclerosis have been
recognized in Phoenicopteriformes and other marine or aquatic birds.
Their pathogenesis and pathogenicity remain a matter of debate.
PMID: 1626869, UI: 92328426
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