Publications by authors named "Ashutosh D Wechalekar"

Background: Technetium-99m-labeled 3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid (Tc-DPD) scintigraphy is a critical part of the validated nonbiopsy diagnostic algorithm for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). With the advent of novel disease-modifying therapies for ATTR-CM, there is intense interest in establishing the utility of DPD scans as an indicator of treatment response.

Objectives: The authors conducted a retrospective multimodality imaging study to determine the utility of Tc-DPD to track treatment response in ATTR-CM.

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Renal prognosis in light-chain amyloidosis (AL) is determined by categorizing patients into three renal stages at diagnosis and assessing Renal Response or Renal Progression following chemotherapy after 6 months. We evaluated, in a test (N=1935) cohort of patients with renal AL amyloidosis who were followed for a median of 95 months, a modified 4-stage model where Renal Stage 2 was sub-categorized according to preserved (2A) or reduced (2B) estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). A hybrid model for evaluation of Renal Progression was also introduced, using an eGFR cut-off of 30ml/min/1.

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Importance: Patients with transthyretin (ATTR) cardiac amyloid infiltration are increasingly diagnosed at earlier disease stages with no heart failure (HF) symptoms and a wide range of cardiac amyloid infiltration.

Objective: To characterize the clinical phenotype and natural history of asymptomatic patients with ATTR cardiac amyloid infiltration.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study analyzed data of all patients at 12 international centers for amyloidosis from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2023.

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Systemic light chain (AL) amyloidosis is a rare clonal plasma cell disorder characterized by the production of amyloidogenic immunoglobulin light chains, which causes the formation and deposition of amyloid fibrils, leading to multi-organ dysfunction. Current treatment is directed at the underlying plasma cell clone to achieve a profound reduction in the monoclonal free light chain production. The standard-of-care first-line therapy is a combination of daratumumab, cyclophosphamide, bortezomib and dexamethasone (D-VCd regimen), resulting in high rates of haematological and organ responses.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cardiac amyloid infiltration significantly impacts survival in systemic light-chain (AL) amyloidosis, with guidelines suggesting early therapy changes for patients not responding well, regardless of cardiac amyloid severity.
  • The study aimed to compare serum biomarkers, echocardiography, and cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) with extracellular volume (ECV) mapping in understanding cardiac amyloid and its prognostic value.
  • Findings revealed that ECV is a strong independent predictor of mortality, showing different relationships between the depth of hematological response and survival based on specific ECV thresholds over 1- and 6-month periods.
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  • Bortezomib is a common first-line treatment for systemic AL amyloidosis, and the study evaluates the effectiveness of a second-line therapy combining daratumumab, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (DVD) in patients previously treated with bortezomib.
  • From a cohort of 116 patients undergoing second-line DVD, a significant percentage (69.8%) achieved a complete response (CR) or very good partial response (VGPR), with better outcomes observed in those who initially responded well to first-line bortezomib.
  • The study also found that patients who received DVD due to inadequate response to first-line treatment had lower event-free survival
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  • - The study investigates cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in individuals with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis, revealing that 27% reported symptoms at disease onset, increasing to 78% at the first evaluation (T1) after 4.5 years.
  • - A total of 124 individuals participated, with cardiovascular autonomic failure found in 75% of symptomatic patients and 64% of asymptomatic TTR variant carriers, highlighting a significant underestimate of autonomic issues in early stages.
  • - The findings suggest that autonomic dysfunction can be an early indicator of disease progression, with a faster progression rate observed in individuals reporting autonomic symptoms, emphasizing the need for routine autonomic function testing for better diagnosis and monitoring.
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  • The number of people with amyloidosis is going up because doctors know more about it and better treatments are available.
  • Having expert centers for treating amyloidosis can help patients get the best care and improve research on the disease.
  • A survey was created by a team of experts to figure out what these centers should do to provide the best treatment possible.
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  • Amyloidogenic serum free light chains (sFLCs) contribute to the worsening of AL amyloidosis, and a new testing method called FLC-MS shows improved sensitivity for detecting disease remnants.
  • In a study involving 487 patients, FLC-MS identified that 16.6% and 20.7% were negative for sFLCs at 6 and 12 months post-treatment, respectively, highlighting its ability to correlate with better survival rates and organ response.
  • The findings indicate that FLC-MS negativity is a strong predictor of positive outcomes in patients, suggesting it may become the new standard for assessing treatment responses in AL amyloidosis.
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Systemic light chain (AL) amyloidosis is a relapsing plasma cell disorder. Therapy is limited, particularly for triple-class refractory disease. We report the use of belantamab mafodotin, a BCMA-directed drug-antibody conjugate, for relapsed AL amyloidosis, including patients traditionally excluded from clinical trials.

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  • - ATTR-CM is a form of heart failure linked to a specific TTR gene mutation (p.(V142I)) prevalent in 3-4% of individuals of African descent, potentially affecting 1.6 million people in the U.S.
  • - A study analyzed 413 patients with this mutation, finding that they had significant heart functional impairment and lower 5-year survival rates compared to patients with wild-type ATTR-CM, emphasizing the seriousness of the condition.
  • - The aggressive nature of p.(V142I)-ATTRv-CM was highlighted by findings of myocyte loss and widespread infiltration in the heart muscle, indicating a high risk for biventricular failure and poor patient outcomes.
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  • A study screened 534 patients with monoclonal IgM disorders over nine years, revealing that 134 had type I cryoglobulinaemia, predominantly associated with Waldenström macroglobulinaemia (76%).
  • Coexisting clinically relevant disorders were found in 31% of patients, with a significant prevalence in those with IgM monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) compared to Waldenström macroglobulinaemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
  • Half of the patients experienced active symptoms related to cryoglobulins, and after a median follow-up of three years, 77% had not required treatment for cryoglobulinaemia, with age being the main factor influencing overall survival.
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  • Amyloidoses are diseases caused by the misfolding and accumulation of proteins, leading to problems in organs, with transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) and light-chain amyloidosis (AL) being the most common types affecting the heart.
  • Diagnosing ATTR cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is difficult due to its similarities with other heart diseases and past reliance on invasive endomyocardial biopsy; however, noninvasive myocardial scintigraphy using bone-seeking tracers is now a highly accurate diagnostic method and has changed how the condition is diagnosed.
  • The review details the use of scintigraphy, including the available tracers, techniques for acquiring images, how to interpret results, common mistakes, and necessary
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Aims: To perform evaluation of widely embraced bone scintigraphy-based non-biopsy diagnostic criteria (NBDC) for ATTR amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) in clinical practice, and to refine serum free light chain (sFLC) ratio cut-offs that reliably exclude monoclonal gammopathy (MG) in chronic kidney disease.

Methods And Results: A multi-national retrospective study of 3354 patients with suspected or histologically proven cardiac amyloidosis (CA) referred to specialist centres from 2015 to 2021; evaluations included radionuclide bone scintigraphy, serum and urine immunofixation, sFLC assay, eGFR measurement and echocardiography. Seventy-nine percent (1636/2080) of patients with Perugini grade 2 or 3 radionuclide scans fulfilled NBDC for ATTR-CM through absence of a serum or urine monoclonal protein on immunofixation together with a sFLC ratio falling within revised cut-offs incorporating eGFR; 403 of these patients had amyloid on biopsy, all of which were ATTR type, and their survival was comparable to non-biopsied ATTR-CM patients (p = 0.

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Cardiac AL amyloidosis is a medical emergency causing rapid deterioration of cardiac function; however, it remains to be a diagnostic challenge especially when presenting with unusual symptoms and clinical findings. We present case of a 44-year-old patient with typical angina, persistently elevated troponin and normal epicardial coronary arteries. He was initially treated for myocarditis due to chest pain with troponin rise.

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Subcutaneous daratumumab plus bortezomib/cyclophosphamide/dexamethasone (VCd; D-VCd) improved outcomes versus VCd for patients with newly diagnosed immunoglobulin light-chain (AL) amyloidosis in the phase 3 ANDROMEDA study. We report a subgroup analysis of Asian patients (Japan; Korea; China) from ANDROMEDA. Among 388 randomized patients, 60 were Asian (D-VCd, n = 29; VCd, n = 31).

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Patient-reported outcomes in AL amyloidosis have not been well-studied. We analyzed health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and AL amyloidosis symptoms data from the phase 3 TOURMALINE-AL1 trial (NCT01659658) (ixazomib-dexamethasone, n = 85; physician's choice of chemotherapy [PC], n = 83). HRQOL and symptom burden were measured with the SF-36v2, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy/Gynecologic Oncology Group Neurotoxicity subscale (FACT/GOG-Ntx), and an amyloidosis symptom questionnaire (ASQ).

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Objectives: Amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis is a rare disease characterized by amyloid fibril deposits made up of toxic light chains causing progressive organ dysfunction and death. Recent studies suggest that hematologic response may be an important prognostic indicator of overall survival (OS) in AL amyloidosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the trial-level association between hematologic complete response (CR) or very good partial response or better (≥ VGPR) and OS in newly diagnosed patients.

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Amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis is a rare, debilitating, often fatal disease. Symptoms of cardiomyopathy are common presenting features, and patients often are referred to cardiologists. Cardiac amyloid infiltration is the leading predictor of death.

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Background: Patients with amyloid light chain amyloidosis and severe cardiac dysfunction have a poor prognosis. Treatment options that induce rapid and deep hematologic and organ responses, irrespective of cardiac involvement, are needed.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of baseline cardiac stage on efficacy and safety outcomes in the phase 3 ANDROMEDA trial.

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Aims: To assess the ability of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to (i) measure changes in response to chemotherapy; (ii) assess the correlation between haematological response and changes in extracellular volume (ECV); and (iii) assess the association between changes in ECV and prognosis over and above existing predictors.

Methods And Results: In total, 176 patients with cardiac AL amyloidosis were assessed using serial N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), echocardiography, free light chains and CMR with T1 and ECV mapping at diagnosis and subsequently 6, 12, and 24 months after starting chemotherapy. Haematological response was graded as complete response (CR), very good partial response (VGPR), partial response (PR), or no response (NR).

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