PRIMARY SYSTEMIC AMYLOIDOSIS SIMULATING CONSTRICTIVE PERICARDITIS

Abstract

AMYLOIDOSIS has been divided into the following types: (1) that which is secondary to chronic suppurative diseases, tuberculosis and occasionally rheumatoid arthritis; (2) a type which sometimes accompanies multiple myeloma; (3) a form in which the amyloid is confined to one organ or tissue, and (4) primary systemic amyloidosis. The last-named type is distinctive in that: (1) it is not associated with suppuration, tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis or multiple myeloma; (2) it usually does not involve the liver, kidneys, adrenals or spleen to a marked degree; (3) the amyloid is deposited in the heart, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, mucous membranes, skin and striated muscles; (4) the amyloid is capricious in its staining reactions; (5) it often forms nodular amyloid tumors,¹and (6) patients afflicted with this disease live longer on an average than those with secondary amyloidosis. This is the fifty-fourth reported case of primary systemic amyloidosis, a case which presents