Gastrointestinal manifestation of amyloidosis

Abstract

There has been an enormous progress in the understanding of the pathogenesis, classification, clinical feature, diagnosis and treatment of amyloidosis over the past decades. Irrespective of the type of amyloidosis the amyloid protein can deposit in almost all parts of the gastrointestinal tract and liver resulting in various symptoms such as abdominal pain, dysphagia, dysmotility disorders, diarrhoea, gastrointestinal bleeding, hepato(spleno)megaly and portal hypertension with its associated complications mimicking the clinical picture of decompensated liver cirrhosis. Most gastrointestinal complications are treated symptomatically; a causal therapy is only reserved for various subtypes of amyloidosis. Liver transplantation is a therapeutic option for patients with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy providing excellent long-term results. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.