Combined amyloidosis of the upper and lower respiratory tract

Pulmonary and laryngeal manifestations of localized and organ-limited amyloidosis are sometimes seen, although pulmonary and laryngeotracheal amyloidosis are not always associated. Diagnosis can only be established histologically by the characteristic green birefringence in polarized light after Congo red staining and by immunohistochemical techniques. We describe the case of a 77-year-old woman who presented with hoarseness and an unproductive cough due to extensive amyloid deposits in both the upper and lower respiratory tract, immunohistochemically proven as the A lambda-type.