Unusual case of cardiac amyloidosis preceded by a twenty-year history of dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure

Abstract

Amyloidosis is a well-known but uncommon disease, and the physician must maintain a high index of suspicion in order to make a timely diagnosis. The expected survival of patients with cardiac amyloidosis is generally poor. In particular, survival has been reported to be 4-12 months for patients with amyloid light-chain amyloidosis with congestive heart failure. We herein report a rare case of cardiac amyloidosis in which the patient presented with cardiac hypertrophy after a 20-year history of dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure.