Unusual initial presentation of primary systemic (AL) amyloidosis with severe cardiomyopathy and fatal outcome.

Primary (AL) amyloidosis is the most common form of systemic amyloidosis seen in current clinical practice. The symptoms of the disease are usually vague, special features are seen in fewer than one fifth of patients, and the combination of organs and systems involved provides a clue for the diagnosis. We describe a patient in whom asymptomatic hepatomegaly, cardiomegaly, hyperlipidaemia and elevated serum alkaline phosphatase level were found during routine examination; the final diagnosis was primary systemic AL amyloidosis with severe cardiomyopathy, resulting in a fatal outcome within eight months from the diagnosis.