Quantitative PYP metrics: separating the wheat from the chaff

Excerpt

The non-biopsy diagnosis of cardiac transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis by bone scintigraphy and the introduction of an effective drug treatment in tafamidis have disrupted the field of cardiac amyloidosis.^1,2 The prevalence of cardiac ATTR amyloidosis has increased substantially, with patients more often diagnosed at an earlier stage of the disease and having significantly lower mortality.³ The widespread implementation of bone scintigraphy into daily clinical practice, and earlier detection of cardiac ATTR amyloidosis, continuously challenge its diagnostic performance.⁴ On top, nuclear cardiologists are approached by clinicians with novel unmet questions: What is the amyloid burden in this patient? How does it affect the prognosis? Did the cardiac amyloid burden progress over time? To what extent did he or she respond to tafamidis? …