Heart failure & cardiomyopathiesCohort study
Changes in Myocardial Light Chain Amyloid Burden After Plasma Cell Therapy
- Prospective cohort study
- serial imaging
- paired within-patient comparisons
Authors' conclusion
Myocardial AL amyloid burden estimated by 18F-florbetapir %ID decreases in participants undergoing plasma cell therapy and is detectable at 6 months.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with recently diagnosed, biopsy-proven AL amyloidosis undergoing plasma cell-directed chemotherapy6 months n = 52
- Participants
- 81 patients
- Exposure
- AL amyloid cardiomyopathy vs AL amyloidosis without cardiomyopathy
- AL amyloid cardiomyopathyn = 58
- AL amyloidosis without cardiomyopathyn = 23
- Outcome
- Change in myocardial amyloid burden (18F-florbetapir %ID by PET/CT)
- Follow-up
- 6 and 12 months
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Change in 18F-florbetapir %ID, AL amyloid cardiomyopathy
6 months: median absolute [relative] change %ID −0.3% [−13%]
P = 0.002
12 months: median absolute [relative] change %ID −0.3% [15%]
P = 0.003
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Correlation of %ID change with NT-proBNP change · 12 months
- Moderate correlation, ρ
- 0.531
%ID by cardiac biomarker response (AL amyloid cardiomyopathy)
- Responders: %ID decreased significantly
- P < 0.001
- Nonresponders: no change
- P = 0.542
ECV by cardiac biomarker response
- Responders: ECV did not change
- P = 0.193
- Nonresponders: ECV did not change
- P = 0.695
AL amyloidosis without cardiomyopathy
- %ID did not change
- P = 0.523
- ECV increased
- P = 0.011
Original publication
Changes in Myocardial Light Chain Amyloid Burden After Plasma Cell Therapy. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. Published 12 September 2025. doi:10.1016/j.jcmg.2025.07.017
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it