[Senile cardiac amyloidosis: study of possible relationship between amyloid and atheromatous processes in 923 cases...

Amyloid diseases include a widely dispersed group of conditions. A part from secondary, primary, and familial amyloid diseases, and those due to endocrine tumours of the APUD system, there is a tendency to isolate a group of senile amyloid diseases affecting mainly the heart. A study in a series of 923 elderly subjects demonstrated a negative correlation between amyloid disease and atheromatosis. As certain secondary amyloid diseases, particularly those secondary to myeloma, are, inversely, sometimes associated with rapidly developing atherosclerosis, this suggests the need for further studies to define the relationship between the two processes.