{"id":12203,"date":"2025-02-27T10:53:29","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T10:53:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/?p=12203"},"modified":"2025-02-28T09:10:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T09:10:27","slug":"increasing-recognition-of-attr-cardiac-amyloidosis-can-improve-outcomes-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/rare-diseases\/increasing-recognition-of-attr-cardiac-amyloidosis-can-improve-outcomes-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Increasing recognition of ATTR cardiac amyloidosis can improve outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-profile-box round ab-has-avatar ab-font-size-14 ab-block-profile ab-profile-columns\"><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-avatar-wrap\"><div class=\"ab-profile-image-wrap\"><figure class=\"ab-profile-image-square\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" class=\"ab-profile-avatar wp-image-12204\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/02\/27104045\/vicky-1740652844-headshot.png\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/02\/27104045\/vicky-1740652844-headshot.png 400w, https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/02\/27104045\/vicky-1740652844-headshot-125x125.png 125w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ab-profile-column ab-profile-content-wrap\"><h2 class=\"ab-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Prof Emer Joyce<\/h2><p class=\"ab-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Consultant Cardiologist, Mater University Hospital<\/p><div class=\"ab-profile-text\"><\/div><ul class=\"ab-social-links\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yourheartsmessage.ie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Transthyretin Amyloidosis (ATTR)<\/a> is a multisystemic condition, typically presenting with heart and\/or neuropathy symptoms. It is being increasingly recognised in older people due to heightened awareness and advances in cardiac imaging techniques for diagnosis.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Amyloidosis is a general term used to describe a group of diseases where a particular protein \u2018misfolds\u2019 and subsequently accumulates into \u2018amyloid fibrils\u2019 which get deposited into various tissues and organs, interrupting their normal function and causing progressive disease.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"healt-345316815\"><div class=\"healt-adlabel\">Advertisements<\/div><div id=\"healt-24365238\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yourheartsmessage.ie\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"2472_Vyndaqel_YHM_DigitalAds_750X250_AUG22_Optimised2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2023\/02\/07210449\/2472_Vyndaqel_YHM_DigitalAds_750X250_AUG22_Optimised2.gif\" alt=\"\"  width=\"750\" height=\"250\"  style=\"display: inline-block;\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-risk-in-older-people-nbsp\"><strong>Risk in older people&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yourheartsmessage.ie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ATTR amyloidosis, transthyretin<\/a> \u2014 a normally occurring protein with important roles in the body \u2014 misfolds into fibrils as it exits the liver which deposit in the heart and nerves. It is subdivided into two types: genetic (which we call hereditary ATTR) or acquired (which we call wild-type ATTR).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wild-type ATTR typically affects older adults, presenting after the sixth decade of life and most commonly in those above 70 years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because many of its initial manifestations can overlap with more common cardiac conditions such as high blood pressure, it has historically been underdiagnosed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hereditary ATTR amyloidosis is caused by a genetic mutation in the TTR gene. While rare, there is a particular variant dominant in Ireland (\u2018T60A\u2019 or \u2018Donegal Amy\u2019). However, over 120 mutations have been described across the world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Effective therapies have recently emerged for both genetic and wild-type subtypes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Hereditary ATTR amyloidosis is caused by<br>a genetic mutation in the TTR gene.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-symptoms-and-signs-nbsp\"><strong>Symptoms and signs&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The heart and nervous system are the most frequently involved organs. Patients can present with heart failure syndrome or rhythm problems such as irregular heartbeat or slow heartbeat, which can lead to collapse or dizziness. In the nervous system, the ATTR amyloid fibrils can cause numbness and tingling.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frequently, patients will have a history of carpal tunnel syndrome (trapped nerve-causing pins and needles) in both hands \u2014 often many years before their ATTR amyloidosis diagnosis.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u2018autonomic\u2019 nervous system can also be affected. Low blood pressure, diarrhoea or constipation and erectile dysfunction can occur.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"healt-4277795628\"><div class=\"healt-adlabel\">Advertisements<\/div><div id=\"healt-605510159\" style=\"margin-top: 30px;margin-bottom: 30px;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yourheartsmessage.ie\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"2472_Vyndaqel_YHM_DigitalAds_750X250_AUG22_Optimised2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2023\/02\/07210449\/2472_Vyndaqel_YHM_DigitalAds_750X250_AUG22_Optimised2.gif\" alt=\"\"  width=\"750\" height=\"250\"  style=\"display: inline-block;\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-is-it-diagnosed-nbsp\"><strong>How is it diagnosed?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The initial suspicion of ATTR amyloidosis is typically based on an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) and\/or cardiac MRI scan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A definitive diagnosis can then be made through a non-invasive pathway, using blood tests to out-rule any blood cell abnormalities, followed by a special type of bone scan known in short-hand as a \u2018DPD scan.\u2019 In more complex cases, a biopsy-led diagnosis may be required.<\/p>\n\n\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><div style=\"text-align:center\" class=\"wp-block-atomic-blocks-ab-button ab-block-button\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yourheartsmessage.ie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"ab-button ab-button-shape-rounded ab-button-size-medium fb-pixel\" style=\"color:#ffffff;background-color:#3373dc\">Click here to learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transthyretin Amyloidosis (ATTR) is a multisystemic condition, typically presenting with heart and\/or neuropathy symptoms. It is being increasingly recognised in older people due to heightened awareness and advances in cardiac imaging techniques for diagnosis. Amyloidosis is a general term used to describe a group of diseases where a particular protein \u2018misfolds\u2019 and subsequently accumulates into &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/rare-diseases\/increasing-recognition-of-attr-cardiac-amyloidosis-can-improve-outcomes-2\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":12205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5778],"tags":[5961],"class_list":["post-12203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rare-diseases","tag-rare-disease-day-2025"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/02\/27104652\/vicky-1740653202-AdobeStock_434943694-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com\/cdn-site.mediaplanet.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/94\/2025\/02\/27104652\/vicky-1740653202-AdobeStock_434943694-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"henryphillips","author_link":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/author\/henryphillips\/"},"vicky_category_order":[{"category_id":5778,"order":"2"}],"vicky_index_order":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12203"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12218,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12203\/revisions\/12218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthnews.ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}