[Cardiac amyloidosis: clinical, x-ray, electric, hemodynamic, developmental and pathological aspects. Apropos of 85 cases collected from French cardiology departments].

85 cases of cardiac amyloidosis have been collected from the university cardiac departments of France. Four distinct clinical pictures have emerged: 1. Primary cardiac amyloidosis (36 cases) which combines: congestive cardiac failure, ECG signs (extreme axis deviation, low voltage, signs of myocardial necrosis), arrhythmias (67%), and a rapidly fatal outcome (23.2 m +/- 8.5); 2. Cardiac amyloidosis associated with a marked neuromuscular amyloidosis (8 cases), in patients of Portuguese extraction (4 out of 8), with a positive family history (6 out of 8), characterised by arrhythmias (5 out of 8), and with a better prognosis (1 death out of 8); 3. Cardiac amyloidosis associated with a dysglobulinaemia (14 cases) with a clinical picture which is almost identical with that of primary cardiac amuloidosis; 4. Senile cardiac amyloidosis, whose frequency increases with age, may sometimes be discovered at routine post mortem examination, and is characterised by atrial fibrillation (13 out of 27) and its association with anaemia, signs of inflammation, and coronary atheroma.