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BACKGROUND: Early cardiac amyloidosis (CA) diagnosis enables patients to access effective treatments for better long-term outcomes, yet it remains under-recognised, misdiagnosed and inadequately managed. AIM: To reduce diagnostic delays, we aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics and changes over an 11-year period. METHODS: This was a retrospective, observational cohort study of all patients referred to the Henri-Mondor Hospital for suspected CA. RESULTS: Overall, 3194 patients were identified and 3022 were included and analysed. Our patients came from varied ethnic backgrounds, and more than half (55.2%) had confirmed CA. Over 11 years, referrals increased 4.4-fold, mostly from cardiologists. Notably, wild-type transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRwt) became the predominant diagnosis, with referrals increasing 15-fold from 20 in 2010-2012 to 308 in 2019-2020. The number of amyloid light chain (AL) diagnoses increased, whilst variant transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv) numbers remained relatively stable. Concerning disease severity, AL patients presented more frequently with severe cardiac involvement whereas an increasing number of ATTRwt patients presented with National Amyloid Centre stage I (22.0% in 2013-2014 to 45.9% in 2019-2020). Lastly, among patients diagnosed with ATTRv in 2019-2020, 83.9% had ATTR Val122Ile cardiac phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that increasing cardiologist awareness and referrals have increased CA diagnoses. With improved awareness and non-invasive diagnostic techniques, more patients with ATTRwt with milder disease and more ATTRv Val122Ile mutations are being referred and diagnosed. Although more AL cases are being recognised, patients are diagnosed with severe cardiac involvement.
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BACKGROUND: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 is the receptor that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses for entry into lung cells. Because ACE-2 may be modulated by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), there is concern that patients treated with ACEIs and ARBs are at higher risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. AIM: This study sought to analyze the association of COVID-19 pneumonia with previous treatment with ACEIs and ARBs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 684 consecutive patients hospitalized for suspected COVID-19 pneumonia and tested by polymerase chain reaction assay. Patients were split into two groups, according to whether (group 1, n = 484) or not (group 2, n = 250) COVID-19 was confirmed. Multivariable adjusted comparisons included a propensity score analysis. RESULTS: The mean age was 63.6 ± 18.7 years, and 302 patients (44%) were female. Hypertension was present in 42.6% and 38.4% of patients in groups 1 and 2, respectively (P = 0.28). Treatment with ARBs was more frequent in group 1 than group 2 (20.7% vs. 12.0%, respectively; odds ratio [OR] 1.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-2.98; P = 0.004). No difference was found for treatment with ACEIs (12.7% vs. 15.7%, respectively; OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.52-1.26; P = 0.35). Propensity score-matched multivariable logistic regression confirmed a significant association between COVID-19 and previous treatment with ARBs (adjusted OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.38-4.04; P = 0.002). Significant interaction between ARBs and ACEIs for the risk of COVID-19 was observed in patients aged > 60 years, women, and hypertensive patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that ACEIs and ARBs are not similarly associated with COVID-19. In this retrospective series, patients with COVID-19 pneumonia more frequently had previous treatment with ARBs compared with patients without COVID-19.