Cardiac Amyloidosis with Normal Wall Thickness: Prevalence, Clinical Characteristics and Outcome in a Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

Background: Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is a rare, progressive, infiltrative cardiac disease. Light chain (AL) and transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis are in the background in almost all cases. New, easily available diagnostic tools and recently introduced novel therapies for both types of CA put this disease into the field of interest. Increased left ventricular wall thickness (IWT) detected by echocardiography is generally thought to be a necessary part of the diagnosis. We aimed to determine the proportion of CA patients without IWT, and to define the clinical characteristics of this cohort. Methods: In an academic tertiary center for CA, we identified patients diagnosed and treated for CA between January 2009 and February 2022. In a retrospective analysis we defined the proportion of patients with (≥12 mm) and without (<12 mm) IWT, and described their clinical features. Results: We identified 98 patients suitable for the analysis. In total, 70 had AL and 27 ATTR CA; 89 patients had CA with IWT and 9 patients (9%) had CA without IWT. All non-IWT patients had AL type CA. Both group of patients had clinically significant disease, which is supported by the relevant elevation in cardiac biomarker levels. There was no difference between the outcome of the two groups. Conclusion: Patients without IWT form a relevant subgroup among those with CA. Our results suggest that diagnostic algorithms and criteria should take these individuals into consideration, and, therefore, give them access to effective treatments.

Keywords

• cardiac amyloidosis
• AL amyloidosis
• ATTR amyloidosis
• left ventricular wall thickness
• cardiac imaging