Pulmonary amyloidosis: A case series

• Published in: Lung India Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 229 - 232
• Main Authors: Gandham, AnilKumar, Gayathri, AR, Sundararajan, L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mumbai Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd 01.05.2019; Wolters Kluwer - Medknow; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Amyloid light-chain amyloidosis; Anemia; Antibiotics; apple-green birefringence; Bone marrow; Case Report; chemotherapy; Diabetes; diffuse alveolar septal pattern; diffuse parenchymal pattern; Dyspnea; Light; Medical prognosis; Patients; Pneumonia; Proteins; pulmonary amyloidosis; tracheobronchial amyloidosis; Urine; video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery-guided lung biopsy
• ISSN: 0970-2113; 0974-598X
• DOI: 10.4103/lungindia.lungindia_205_18

Amyloidosis is a spectrum of diseases, in which various proteins which are usual components of plasma are deposited as insoluble beta-pleated sheets extracellularly, disrupting function of various organs. Amyloid light-chain amyloidosis occurs due to the deposition of proteins, derived from immunoglobulin light chains, routinely manifesting with multisystem involvement. Pulmonary involvement is seen in about 50% of cases. Three common patterns of pulmonary amyloidosis on computed tomography (CT) chest are tracheobronchial, nodular parenchymal, and diffuse alveolar septal variety. We hereby report two cases of pulmonary amyloidosis, one being a case of diffuse alveolar septal pulmonary amyloidosis, which is an extremely rare pattern of involvement, with a very poor prognosis, and the other one being tracheobronchial pattern of involvement, which usually results due to the localized deposition of amyloid in the tracheobronchial tree. Knowledge about pulmonary amyloidosis is important due to its poor prognosis and nonspecific findings in CT chest.