Dysphagia as initial presentation of primary amyloidosis

Abstract

Amyloidosis involves all parts of the gastrointestinal tract including the esophagus. The esophageal involvement in amyloidosis has been reported to vary from 13% in a radiology study to 22% in an autopsy series; however, such patients have symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux. Dysphagia is an uncommon presentation of amyloidosis. We report a 64-year-old patient who presented with progressive dysphagia of 4 months duration which was confirmed to be due to primary amyloidosis with multiple myeloma. The esophageal involvement by amyloidosis was confirmed by esophageal mucosal biopsies, and 22-channel high-resolution manometry.

Keywords

• amyloidosis
• dysphagia
• esophageal manometry
• multiple myeloma
• upper gi endoscopy