Myocardial Amyloid Burden in Transthyretin Amyloidosis

  • Awais Sheikh
  • , Anouk Achten
  • , Alberto Aimo
  • , Yousuf Razvi
  • , Josephine Mansell
  • , Muhammad U. Rauf
  • , Aldostefano Porcari
  • , Rishi Patel
  • , Lucia Venneri
  • , Ana Martinez-Naharro
  • , Carol Whelan
  • , Cristina Quarta
  • , Ruta Virsinskaite
  • , Daniel Feffer Barak
  • , Ashutosh Wechalekar
  • , Helen Lachmann
  • , Daniel Knight
  • , Tushar Kotecha
  • , Peter Kellman
  • , Charlotte Manisty
  • James Moon, Michele Emdin, Scott D. Solomon, Philip N. Hawkins, Julian Gillmore, Marianna Fontana*
*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Background: Stabilizers/silencers limit new transthyretin amyloid formation, whereas emerging agents aim to clear existing deposits. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) extracellular volume (ECV) reflects myocardial amyloid and may provide a quantitative framework for therapeutic planning Objectives: The aim was to define calibrated ECV thresholds, evaluate their diagnostic and prognostic value, and explore how CMR-ECV could provide a quantitative framework for disease staging and therapeutic planning. Methods: We studied 1,541 subjects undergoing CMR for transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) classified as TTR-variant carriers (n = 123), extracardiac ATTR (n = 41), early-stage ATTR-CM (n = 70), or overt ATTR-CM (n = 1,308). The endpoint was all-cause mortality. Results: ECV was similar in carriers and extracardiac ATTR but rose from early-stage to ATTR-cardiomyopathy (CM). Associations with biomarkers, National Amyloidosis Centre (NAC) stage, Perugini grade, and echocardiographic measures were modest, with wide overlap. Diagnostic performance was excellent: ECV <30% excluded and =40% confirmed cardiac involvement, whereas 30% to 39% indicated early infiltration. Over a median follow-up of 2.8 years (IQR: 1.4-4.3 years), 612 patients (40%) died. Prognostically, ECV independently predicted mortality (HR: 1.22 per 10% increase; 95% CI: 1.10-1.34 per 10% increase; P < 0.001) after multivariable analysist. Stratifying patients by ECV categories (degree of infiltration: none <30%; mild = 30%-39%; moderate = 40%-49%; moderate-to-severe = 50%-59%; severe =60%) showed monotonic risk increase across categories. ECV retained prognostic value across hs-troponin and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) strata, Perugini grades 1 to 3, and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) tertiles, with steeper gradients in low-biomarker/low-LVMI strata. Conclusions: ECV directly quantifies myocardial amyloid load and, for the first time, defines reproducible thresholds that stratify burden and refine risk prediction beyond stage, biomarkers, and imaging, providing a quantitative framework for staging and therapeutic planning in ATTR amyloidosis.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of the American College of Cardiology
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 1 Jan 2025

Keywords

  • cardiovascular magnetic resonance
  • extracellular volume
  • risk prediction
  • transthyretin amyloidosis

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