Heart transplantation for restrictive cardiomyopathy: development of cardiac amyloidosis in preexisting monoclonal gammopathy.

A 54-year-old woman died 6 months after heart transplantation for treatment of restrictive cardiomyopathy. A monoclonal gammopathy without other signs of malignant disease was present preoperatively, and up to 6 weeks before transplantation no evidence of amyloidosis was established in the rectal, bone marrow, and cardiac specimens. At autopsy there was amyloidosis type AL in the kidneys, bone marrow, liver, spleen, recipient atrium, and donor heart. Retrospectively, the explanted heart also revealed amyloidosis. We conclude that in patients undergoing heart transplantation for treatment of restrictive cardiomyopathy with a preexisting monoclonal gammopathy, a thorough evaluation, including multiorgan biopsy for amyloidosis with electron microscopic workup, should be performed.