| CASE REPORT |
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| Year : 2015 | Volume
: 10
| Issue : 3 | Page : 212-216 |
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Amyloidosis involving the respiratory system: 5-year's experience of a multi-disciplinary group's activity
Raffaele Scala1, Uberto Maccari1, Chiara Madioni1, Duccio Venezia2, Lidia Calogera La Magra3
1 Pulmonology and Respiratory Intensive Care Unit, Arezzo, Italy
2 Radiology, San Donato Hospital, Arezzo, Italy
3 Pathology, San Donato Hospital, Arezzo, Italy
Correspondence Address:
Raffaele Scala
Pulmonology and Respiratory Intensive Care Unit, San Donato Hospital, Via Pietro Nenni 20 52100, Arezzo
Italy
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1817-1737.157290
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Amyloidosis may involve the respiratory system with different clinical-radiological-functional patterns which are not always easy to be recognized. A good level of knowledge of the disease, an active integration of the pulmonologist within a multidisciplinary setting and a high level of clinical suspicion are necessary for an early diagnosis of respiratory amyloidosis. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the number and the patterns of amyloidosis involving the respiratory system. We searched the cases of amyloidosis among patients attending the multidisciplinary rare and diffuse lung disease outpatients' clinic of Pulmonology Unit of the Hospital of Arezzo from 2007 to 2012. Among the 298 patients evaluated during the study period, we identified three cases of amyloidosis with involvement of the respiratory system, associated or not with other extra-thoracic localizations, whose diagnosis was histo-pathologically confirmed after the pulmonologist, the radiologist, and the pathologist evaluation. Our experience of a multidisciplinary team confirms that intra-thoracic amyloidosis is an uncommon disorder, representing 1.0% of the cases of rare and diffuse lung diseases referred to our center. The diagnosis of the disease is not always easy and quick as the amyloidosis may involve different parts of the respiratory system (airways, pleura, parenchyma). It is therefore recommended to remind this orphan disease in the differential diagnosis of the wide clinical scenarios the pulmonologist may intercept in clinical practice. |
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