Red flags of cardiac amyloidosis in patients with spinal stenosis and yellow ligament hypertrophy

Abstract

IntroductionStudies addressing the prevalence of cardiac amyloidosis (CA) among patients with spinal stenosis (SS) are lacking. The identification of the red flags (RF) of CA could lead to early detection of cases of CA. The primary objective of this study was to address the prevalence of RF of CA among patients with SS. MethodsTransversal study including consecutive cases with SS and yellow ligament hypertrophy (YLH). A clinical assessment thar included electrocardiogram, echocardiogram anf urine and blood test was performed. A clinical suspicion of CA was defined by the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy plus any RF. Results103 patients with SS and YLH were assessed. The prevalence of RF was high: heart failure: 18.4%; aortic stenosis: 1.9%; carpal tunnel syndrome: 7.8%; bicipital tendon rupture: 1.9%; arterial hypotension: 17.4%; polyneuropathy symptoms: 51.5%; pseudoinfarction patten: 3.9%; low voltages: 15.5%; conduction abnormalities: 15.5%; decreased longitudinal strain: 25.3%; apical sparing pattern: 3.9%. The 57.3% of the cohort met the CA suspicion criteria. ConclusionThe prevalence of RF of CA is high among patients with SS and YLH. A high proportion of patients met the CA suspicion criteria.