Interactive Transcript
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<v ->We move on and the next stop we make is in amyloid.
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And amyloid I've seen a lot of cases through the years
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but fewer cases in the last five years.
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Most of the cases that I have seen have been related
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to hemodialysis, but amyloid can occur on its own,
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and also can be associated with multiple myeloma.
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Amyloid produces masses in joints and around joints.
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And so it has some very characteristic appearances
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for example, when you get masses around the shoulder,
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the term shoulder pads sign is often used
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because it looks like the shoulder pads,
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that we see in the American football players.
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When it occurs about the wrist, it often leads
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to a mass that produces Carpal tunnel syndrome.
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So that's a common known clinical finding
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in patients with amyloid.
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When it involves joints that erode bone,
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pathologic fractures may occur,
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and one of the interesting aspectS
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is a destructive spondyloarthropathy at one or more levels
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looking a lot like a disc or vertebral infection.
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So, there are a lot of different imaging findings,
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not just with MR, but with conventional radiography
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and CT as well.
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This is one of the conditions that can have areas
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of low signal even on fluid sensitive
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T2-weighted MR Images, let me show you a couple of cases.
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So this is an old case sent to me by one of our previous
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visiting scholars from Austria of amyloid,
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a primary amyloid, and you can see the arrows pointing
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to these masses located mainly behind the knee,
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you'll note here, as we look at T1
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and then a fluid sensitive sequence
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that the masses are mainly of low signal.
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So amyloid should be added
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to a list of tissue that can be associated
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with low signal on fluid sensitive sequences.
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Here's another example, showing you the shoulder pad sign
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with amyloid deposition in and around the versa
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extending into the joint and into the humerus.
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And in the same patient here, you can see,
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in fact, amyloid involving the compartments of the wrist,
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as well as the area of the Carpal tunnel,
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and Carpal tunnel syndrome obviously well recognized.
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Another example given to me by one of my associates,
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Eddie Smitherman showing you at this mass like deposition
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of amyloid on the volar aspect of the wrist
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shown by the black arrows here, you can understand
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why Carpal tunnel syndrome could be a complication.
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And another one sent by one of our prior fellows,
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this is amyloid deposition within that bursa
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that we talked bicipitoradial bursa
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about the biceps tendon note
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that in these sequences, low signal dominates.
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So again, I would emphasize that as a feature of amyloid.
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The other aspect of amyloid that is interesting
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is the infiltration into soft tissue, such as tendon.
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So in large amounts tendons in any particular site,
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along with gout which can also do that,
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you ought to consider amyloid.
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Here's an example with marked enlargement
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of the subscapularis tendon, masses around it,
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and I've certainly seen a few cases
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that have looked like that.
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And then one of the most interesting manifestations
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I've seen with amyloid is involvement
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of joint capsules and capsular ligaments.
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And I've seen that particularly about the hips
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as in the case I'm showing you here,
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where there's bilateral involvement
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and mass like enlargement of the capsule,
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and capsular ligaments.
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Gout can also do this certainly something to think about,
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and other lymphoma and things of that sort can also lead
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to infiltration of joint capsules and tendons.
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So there is a bit of a differential.