Chronic Brucella infection was associated with AL cardiac amyloidosis in a 69-year-old male patient with significant clinical overlap between the two conditions.
Case Report (n=1)
No
This case report suggests a potential association between chronic Brucella infection and the development of AL-type cardiac amyloidosis, highlighting the need to consider amyloidosis in patients with chronic infections and unexplained myocardial hypertrophy.
Background Amyloidosis is a rare group of diseases characterized by extracellular deposition of amyloid fibrils. The most common types are amyloid light chain (AL) and transthyretin (ATTR), while serum amyloid A (AA) type is relatively rare. Infections are often associated with AA amyloidosis, whereas AL amyloidosis typically results from abnormal proliferation of monoclonal plasma cells. However, the relationship between AL amyloidosis and infections remains unclear. Case presentation We present the case of a 69-year-old male patient with chronic brucellosis complicated by heart failure. Laboratory tests showed significantly elevated myocardial enzymes and N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide. Cardiac echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed abnormal myocardial hypertrophy, and the patient showed poor response to myocarditis-targeted treatment. Outcome Genetic testing for inherited cardiomyopathies ruled out Fabry disease, hereditary hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and ATTR amyloidosis-associated abnormal genes. Serum immunofixation electrophoresis indicated positivity for lambda light chain. AL cardiac amyloidosis was confirmed by myocardial biopsy. Conclusion We report a case of chronic Brucella infection and AL-type cardiac amyloidosis, with a high overlap in clinical onset time. However, additional studies are needed to confirm the potential relationship between Brucella infection and AL-type cardiac amyloidosis.
He et al. (Thu,) conducted a case report in AL cardiac amyloidosis and chronic Brucella infection (n=1). anti-Brucella therapy was evaluated on Cardiac amyloidosis confirmed by myocardial biopsy. Chronic Brucella infection was associated with AL cardiac amyloidosis in a 69-year-old male patient with significant clinical overlap between the two conditions.