title: Primary cardiac amyloidosis.
abstract: Cardiac amyloidosis is an uncommon and often unrecognised cause of cardiac failure. It is an infiltrative disease that may mimic either a restrictive or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, constrictive pericarditis, coronary artery disease or valvular heart disease. The diagnosis should be suspected in a patient with cardiac failure who has low voltage complexes on the electrocardiogram, in association with increased myocardial mass and echogenicity on the echocardiogram. The definitive diagnosis, however, can only be made by endomyocardial biopsy or biopsy of any involved organ in systemic amyloidosis. Prognosis is poor and treatment ineffective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jeyamalar
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pathmanathan
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kannan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000682:Amyloid / Q000032:analysis; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid