The life expectancy of someone with amyloid cardiomyopathy is 6 months in advanced cases and over a decade with less advanced cases and with modern therapies.
With modern therapies and especially with less advanced cases of amyloid cardiomyopathy, survival has improved, although generally lifespans of someone with amyloid cardiomyopathy is between 2 to 10 years, although some people have lived longer.
Early diagnosis and specific biomarkers like NT-proBNP, troponin and targeted treatments such as by use of stabilizers and gene silencers can significantly impact prognosis, and some people with amyloid cardiomyopathy have had much longer lives.
The symptoms of amyloid cardiomyopathy are shortness of breath, "dyspnea", fatigue, reduced exercise capacity, swelling or edema in the legs, abdomen and ankles, palpitations, irregular heartbeats, "arrhythmias", and excessive nighttime urination, carpal tunnel syndrome, especially with ATTR.
Amyloid cardiomyopathy is a serious heart condition in which abnormal proteins called amyloid buildup in your heart muscle, which makes it stiff and thick and leads to restrictive cardiomyopathy, heart failure and arrhythmias.
Amyloid cardiomyopathy is a progressive and often underdiagnosed disease, primarily caused by Transthyretin (ATTR) or Light Chain (AL) amyloidosis, which affects older adults.
Shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling and arrhythmias are common symptoms of amyloid cardiomyopathy.
Diagnosis of amyloid cardiomyopathy involves specialized imaging tests like nuclear scans, and sometimes a biopsy is needed.
Treatments for amyloid cardiomyopathy involve managing the symptoms and halting progression of amyloid cardiomyopathy, which makes early detection of amyloid cardiomyopathy crucial.
Imaging like an echocardiogram, cardiac MRI and specific nuclear scans like pyrophosphate scan for ATTR and a biopsy which is the gold standard such as an endomyocardial biopsy, although blood tests and urine tests for monoclonal proteins in AL and a bone marrow biopsy can also help in diagnosis of amyloid cardiomyopathy.
Treatment for ATTR amyloid cardiomyopathy often involves medications that stabilize the TTR protein, slow progression and or prevent new formation of amyloids, such as through use of patisiran and or tafamidis medications.
General treatment for amyloid cardiomyopathy is often diuretics for fluid and rhythm control, sometimes through the use of pacemakers/defibrillators, or even organ transplants in severe enough cases.
Amyloid cardiomyopathy is an underdiagnosed condition cause of heart failure, especially in older adults.
So recognizing the signs of amyloid cardiomyopathy like spinal stenosis or carpal tunnel can prompt earlier suspicion of amyloid cardiomyopathy and diagnosis, which can improve outcomes.