title: [Macroglossia as the initial symptom of amyloidosis].
abstract: Amyloidosis is a term that describes a heterogeneous group of disorders in which various tissues contain the characteristic insoluble fibrillar protein known as amyloid. A number of different forms of presentation have been described and include senile, familial or hereditary, systemic, localized, secondary and primary forms. We now report our management of a 79-year old woman who suffered from primary A-lambda-light chain amyloidosis. Amyloid changes first presented in the tissues of the tongue and floor of mouth and were seen clinically as a macroglossia. Further investigation led to a primary diagnosis of multiple myeloma IIa, as categorized by Durie and Salmon. Several cases have been reported to date describing secondary development of macroglossia due to long-term known and treated multiple myeloma. However, there has been only one report of macroglossia as a primary finding leading to the diagnosis of multiple myeloma.
authors.affiliation: Universitäts-HNO-Klinik Essen.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Arweiler
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jahnke
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005927:Glossectomy; D006801:Humans; D008260:Macroglossia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009060:Mouth Floor / Q000473:pathology; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D014059:Tongue / Q000473:pathology