Heart failure & cardiomyopathies

Development of a Predictive Tool in Patients With High Pretest Probability for Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy

JACC AdvPublished

  • prospective observational registry
  • 2 Vancouver academic sites
  • univariable and multivariable logistic regression
+2 more
  • 2 Vancouver academic sites
  • univariable and multivariable logistic regression

Authors' conclusion

Broad screening criteria of high-risk populations referred for technetium-99m-pyrophosphate yielded new ATTR-CM diagnoses in 23% of patients. Our predictive tool may guide clinicians in refining pretest probability and optimizing diagnosis for ATTR-CM. External validation in broader populations is warranted.

Study context

Population
Patients aged >60 years presenting to heart failure, atrial fibrillation, transcatheter valve clinics, and cardiologists' offices, meeting high-risk criteria and undergoing technetium-99m-pyrophosphateenrolled of 2,500 patients screened, mean follow-up of 3 years
Participants
200 patients
Exposure
A 5-item predictive tool for ATTR-CM diagnosis
  • ATTR-CMn = 46

Main finding

As reported in the abstract

ATTR-CM diagnosis

ATTR-CM diagnosed

46 (23.0%)

immunoglobulin light-chain amyloidosis

7 (3.5%)

Observational data: associations, not effects.

Further findings

Age

Male

Low QRS voltages

Atrioventricular block

OutcomeATTR-CMnon-ATTR-CM
NT-proBNP3,6332018
Posterior wall thickness14.5 ± 3.211.2 ± 1.8
Doppler E/e'18.7 ± 7.614.4 ± 6.2
  • Age: P < 0.001
  • Male: P = 0.013
  • NT-proBNP: P = 0.027
  • Posterior wall thickness: P < 0.001
  • Low QRS voltages: P < 0.001
  • Atrioventricular block: P = 0.018
  • Doppler E/e': P = 0.001

Performance of 5-item predictive tool (score ≥7)

sensitivity
89.1% [95% CI: 80.1%-98.1%]
specificity
85.1% [95% CI: 70.4%-90.7%]
area under receiver operating characteristic curve
0.931 [95% CI: 0.884-0.978]

Original publication

Development of a Predictive Tool in Patients With High Pretest Probability for Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy. JACC Adv. Published 25 March 2026. doi:10.1016/j.jacadv.2026.102675

Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it