Immunoglobulin deposition in localized conjunctival amyloidosis

Immunofluorescent studies were performed on tarsus and tarsal conjunctiva from a 30-year-old woman with blepharoptosis secondary to localized nonfamilial amyloidosis. Both kappa and lambda light chains were identified in abundance in the resected tissue. There was no evidence of any systemic disease or of amyloid deposition elsewhere. Six months after the patient underwent surgery, there was no sign of recurrence. The antigenic determinants of the amyloid suggested that the pathogenesis of localized nonfamilial ocular amyloidosis involves the accumulation of proteins similar to immunoglobulin.