Abstract:

Objective To realize the clinical characteristics of multisystem involvement in patients with AL amyloidosis. Methods The clinical data of 20 patients who were diagnosed as having renal AL amyloidosis, by immunohistochemical method on renal biopsy sections were retrospectively analyzed. Results Of the 20 patients, 90% of were over 40 years old. The ratio of male to female was 3:2. Two or more systems involvement was found in 90% of patients and 30% had more then three systems involved. In this group kidney involvement was found in 100%(nephrotic syndrome 90%), hypotension in 45%, thickened ventricular walls in 35%, abnormal electrocardiogram in 80%, hepatomegaly in 35%, glossal hypertrophy in 25%, body weight loss in 40%, monoclonal light chain in serum or urine in 85% of patients. Conclusion AL amyloidosis often involves multiple systems, including digestive system, kidney and heart were the common target organs．The clinical characteristics of the disease are complicated.

Key words: AL amyloidosis, monoclonal light chain, clinical characteristics