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Treatment depends on the type of amyloidosis that is present. Treatment with high dose melphalan, a chemotherapy agent, followed by stem cell transplantation has showed promise in early studies and is recommended for stage I and II AL amyloidosis. However, only 20–25% of people are eligible for stem cell transplant. Chemotherapy and steroids, with melphalan plus dexamethasone, is mainstay treatment in AL people not eligible for transplant.
In AA, symptoms may improve if the underlying condition is treated; eprodisate has been shown to slow renal impairment by inhibiting polymerization of amyloid fibrils.
In ATTR, liver transplant is a curative therapy because mutated transthyretin which forms amyloids is produced in the liver.
People affected by amyloidosis are supported by multiple organizations, including the Amyloidosis Foundation, Amyloidosis Support Groups Inc., and Amyloidosis Australia, Inc.
Kiacta - (eprodisate disodium) is in 2015 being evaluated as a protector of renal function in AA amyloidosis. Kiacta, inhibits the formation and deposition of the amyloid A fibrils into the tissues.
Primary cutaneous amyloidosis is a form of amyloidosis associated with oncostatin M receptor. This type of amyloidosis has been divided into the following types:
- Macular amyloidosis is a cutaneous condition characterized by itchy, brown, rippled macules usually located on the interscapular region of the back. Combined cases of lichen and macular amyloidosis are termed biphasic amyloidosis, and provide support to the theory that these two variants of amyloidosis exist on the same disease spectrum.
- Lichen amyloidosis is a cutaneous condition characterized by the appearance of occasionally itchy lichenoid papules, typically appearing bilaterally on the shins.
- Nodular amyloidosis is a rare cutaneous condition characterized by nodules that involve the acral areas.
There is evidence that eating amyloid fibers may lead to amyloidosis. This evidence is based on studies in cattle, chickens, mice, and cheetahs. Thus, in a sense, SAA amyloidosis may be considered a contagious disease, although whether this occurs or is important in the development of naturally occurring amyloidosis remains unknown. Nevertheless, because amyloid fibers can be detected in muscle in low amounts, it raises some concern about whether people could develop amyloidosis as a result of ingesting meat from an animal with the disease.
Median survival for patients diagnosed with AL amyloidosis was 13 months in the early 1990s, but had improved to c. 40 months a decade later.
Primary systemic amyloidosis (AL amyloidosis or just primary amyloidosis) is a disease that involves the mesenchymal tissue, the tongue, heart, gastrointestinal tract, and skin.
The most effective treatment is autologous bone marrow transplants with stem cell rescues. However many patients are too weak to tolerate this approach.
Other treatments can involve application of chemotherapy similar to that used in multiple myeloma. A combination of melphalan and dexamethasone has been found effective in those who are ineligible for stem cell transplantation, and a combination of bortezomib and dexamethasone is now in widespread clinical use.
The three most common forms of amyloidosis are AL, AA, and ATTR amyloidoses. The median age at diagnosis is 64.
In the western hemisphere, AL is the most prevalent, comprising 90% of cases. In the United States it's estimated that there are 1,275 to 3,200 new cases of AL amyloidoses a year.
AA amyloidoses is the most common form in developing countries and can complicate longstanding infections with tuberculosis, osteomyleitis, and bronchiectesis. In the west, AA is more likely to occur from autoimmune inflammatory states. The most common causes of AA amyloidosis in the West are rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, and familial Mediterranean fever.
People undergoing long term hemodialysis (14–15 years) can develop amyloidosis from accumulation of light chains of the HLA 1 complex which is normally filtered out by the kidneys.
Senile amyloidosis resulting from deposition of normal transthyretin, mainly in the heart, is found in 10–36% of people over 80.
Other than identifying and treating any underlying conditions in secondary livedo, idiopathic livedo reticularis may improve with warming the area.
Heredofamilial amyloidosis is an inherited condition that may be characterized by systemic or localized deposition of amyloid in body tissues.
Secondary systemic amyloidosis is a condition that involves the adrenal gland, liver, spleen, and kidney as a result of amyloid deposition due to a chronic disease such as Behçet's disease, ulcerative colitis, etc.
Organ-limited amyloidosis is a category of amyloidosis where the distribution can be associated primarily with a single organ. It is contrasted to systemic amyloidosis, and it can be caused by several different types of amyloid.
In almost all of the organ-specific pathologies, there is significant debate as to whether the amyloid plaques are the causal agent of the disease or instead a downstream consequence of a common idiopathic agent. The associated proteins are indicated in parentheses.
Livedoid vasculopathy (also known as "livedoid vasculitis", "livedo reticularis with summer/winter ulceration" and "segmental hyalinizing vasculitis") is a chronic cutaneous disease seen predominantly in young to middle-aged women. One synonym used to describe its features is "Painful purpuric ulcers with pattern of the lower extremities" (PURPLE).
It can be divided into a primary (or idiopathic) form and a secondary form, which has been associated with a number of diseases, including chronic venous hypertension and varicosities.
Haemodialysis-associated amyloidosis is a form of systemic amyloidosis associated with chronic kidney failure.
Long-term haemodialysis results in a gradual accumulation of β microglobulin, a serum protein, in the blood. It accumulates because it is unable to cross the dialysis filter.
Affected individuals usually present after 5 years of dialysis rarely before that. The tendency of haemodialysis-associated amyloidosis is to be articular in general affecting the joints.
Liver transplantation has proven to be effective for ATTR familial amyloidosis due to Val30Met mutation.
Alternatively, a European Medicines Agency approved drug Tafamidis or Vyndaqel now exists which stabilizes transthyretin tetramers comprising wild type and different mutant subunits against amyloidogenesis halting the progression of peripheral neuropathy and autonomic nervous system dysfunction.
Currently there are two ongoing clinical trials undergoing recruitment in the United States and worldwide to evaluate investigational medicines that could possibly treat TTR.
Secondary cutaneous amyloidosis is a skin condition that occurs following PUVA therapy and in benign and malignant cutaneous neoplasms in which deopsits of amyloid may be found.
Treatment of secondary cryofibrinoginemic disease may use the same methods used for treating the primary disease wherever necessary but focus on treating the associated infectious, malignant, premalignant, vasculitis, or autoimmune disorder with the methods prescribed for the associated disorder. Case report studies suggest that: corticosteroids and immunosuppressive drug regimens, antimicrobial therapy, and anti-neoplastic regimens can be effective treatments for controlling the cryfibrinoginemic disease in cases associated respectively with autoimmune, infectious, and premalignant/malignant disorders.
Amyloid purpura affects a minority of individuals with amyloidosis. For example, purpura is present early in the disease in approximately 15% of patients with primary systemic amyloidosis.
A number of conditions may cause the appearance of livedo reticularis:
- Cutis marmorata telangiectatica congenita, a rare congenital condition
- Sneddon syndrome – association of livedoid vasculitis and systemic vascular disorders, such as strokes, due to underlying genetic cause
- Idiopathic livedo reticularis – the most common form of livedo reticularis, completely benign condition of unknown cause affecting mostly young women during the winter: It is a lacy purple appearance of skin in extremities due to sluggish venous blood flow. It may be mild, but ulceration may occur later in the summer.
- Secondary livedo reticularis:
- Vasculitis autoimmune conditions:
- Livedoid vasculitis – with painful ulceration occurring in the lower legs
- Polyarteritis nodosa
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Dermatomyositis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Lymphoma
- Pancreatitis
- Chronic pancreatitis
- Tuberculosis
- Drug-related:
- Adderall (side effect)
- Amantadine (side effect)
- Bromocriptine (side effect)
- Beta IFN treatment, "i.e." in multiple sclerosis
- Livedo reticularis associated with rasagiline
- Methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine-induced peripheral vasculopathy
- Gefitinib
- Obstruction of capillaries:
- Cryoglobulinaemia – proteins in the blood that clump together in cold conditions
- Antiphospholipid syndrome due to small blood clots
- Hypercalcaemia (raised blood calcium levels which may be deposited in the capillaries)
- Haematological disorders of polycythaemia rubra vera or thrombocytosis (excessive red cells or platelets)
- Infections (syphilis, tuberculosis, Lyme disease)
- Associated with acute renal failure due to cholesterol emboli status after cardiac catheterization
- Arteriosclerosis (cholesterol emboli) and homocystinuria (due to Chromosome 21 autosomal recessive Cystathionine beta synthase deficiency)
- Intra-arterial injection (especially in drug addicts)
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome – connective tissue disorder, often with many secondary conditions, may be present in all types
- Pheochromocytoma
- Livedoid vasculopathy and its association with factor V Leiden mutation
- FILS syndrome (polymerase ε1 mutation in a human syndrome with facial dysmorphism, immunodeficiency, livedo, and short stature)
- Primary hyperoxaluria, oxalosis (oxalate vasculopathy)
- Cytomegalovirus infection (very rare clinical form, presenting with persistent fever and livedo reticularis on the extremities and cutaneous necrotizing vasculitis of the toes)
- Generalized livedo reticularis induced by silicone implants for soft tissue augmentation
- As a rare skin finding in children with Down syndrome
- Idiopathic livedo reticularis with polyclonal IgM hypergammopathy
- CO angiography (rare, reported case)
- A less common skin lesion of Churg-Strauss syndrome
- Erythema nodosum-like cutaneous lesions of sarcoidosis showing livedoid changes in a patient with sarcoidosis and Sjögren's syndrome
- Livedo vasculopathy associated with IgM antiphosphatidylserine-prothrombin complex antibody
- Livedo vasculopathy associated with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 promoter homozygosity and prothrombin G20210A heterozygosity
- As a first sign of metastatic breast carcinoma (very rare)
- Livedo reticularis associated with renal cell carcinoma (rare)
- Buerger's disease (as an initial symptom)
- As a rare manifestation of Graves hyperthyroidism
- Associated with pernicious anaemia
- Moyamoya disease (a rare, chronic cerebrovascular occlusive disease of unknown cause, characterized by progressive stenosis of the arteries of the circle of Willis leading to an abnormal capillary network and resultant ischemic strokes or cerebral hemorrhages)
- Associated with the use of a midline catheter
- Familial primary cryofibrinogenemia.
Studies on the treatment of cryofibrinoginemic disease have involved relatively few patients, are limited primarily to case reports, and differ based on whether the disease is primary or secondary. In all cases of cryofibrinogenemic disease, however, patients should avoid the exposure of afflicted body parts to cold weather or other environmental triggers of symptoms and avoid using cigarettes or other tobacco products. In severe cases, these individuals also risk developing serious thrombotic events which lead to tissue necrosis that may result in secondary bacterial infections and require intensive antimicrobial therapy and/or amputations. Careful treatment of these developments is required.
Paraproteinemia, also known as monoclonal gammopathy, is the presence of excessive amounts of paraprotein or single monoclonal gammaglobulin in the blood. It is usually due to an underlying immunoproliferative disorder or hematologic neoplasms, especially multiple myeloma. It is sometimes considered equivalent to plasma cell dyscrasia.
No drug has been shown to be able to arrest or slow down the process of this condition. There is promise that two drugs, tafamidis and diflunisal, may improve the outlook, since they were demonstrated in randomized clinical trials to benefit patient affected by the related condition FAP-1 otherwise known as transthyretin-related hereditary amyloidosis. Permanent pacing can be employed in cases of symptomatic slow heart rate (bradycardia). Heart failure medications can be used to treat symptoms of difficulty breathing and congestion.
The precise cause of amyloid purpura is unknown, but several mechanisms are thought to contribute. One may be a decrease in the level of circulating factor X, a clotting factor necessary for coagulation. The proposed mechanism for this decrease in factor X is that circulating amyloid fibrils bind and inactivate factor X. Another contributing factor may be enhanced fibrinolysis, the breakdown of clots. Subendothelial deposits of amyloid may weaken blood vessels and lead to the extravasation of blood. Amyloid deposits in the gastrointestinal tract and liver may also play a role in the development of amyloid purpura.
Since interleukin 1β plays a central role in the pathogenesis of the disease, therapy typically targets this cytokine in the form of monoclonal antibodies (such as canakinumab), binding proteins/traps (such as rilonacept), or interleukin 1 receptor antagonists (such as anakinra). These therapies are generally effective in alleviating symptoms and substantially reducing levels of inflammatory indices. Case reports suggest that thalidomide and the anti-IL-6 receptor antibody tocilizumab may also be effective.