[The value of tracing amyloid in the gingiva in the diagnosis of general amyloidosis (author's transl)].

50% of patients with periodontopathy, exhibited the presence of amyloid in the clinically-altered gums. The biopsy specimen of the gums was examined microscopically by means of the crossed polar method. Seemingly-normal gum biopsies were, in all cases, amyloid positive. Amyloid was detected in two out of ten cases of healthy mucosa libera of the cheek. It was assumed that this deposition of amyloid was the consequence of a locally-limited pathological process. These results cast doubt on the possibility of tracing the pericollagenic form of general amyloidosis through gingival biopsy. An alternative procedure would be to biopsy the mucosa libera of the cheek.