18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography might be useful for diagnosis of hepatic amyloidosis

Abstract

We report on a woman with hepatic involvement of primary systemic (immunoglobulin light chain, AL) amyloidosis. Her diagnosis was confirmed by liver biopsy. Clinical symptoms of hepatic amyloidosis are generally mild at its first stage, with most frequent findings being hepatomegaly and alkaline phosphatase elevation. Recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of systemic amyloidosis have made several treatments available. However, its prognosis is occasionally poor. Because liver biopsy is not always safe, other modalities for the diagnosis are needed. Of interest was that fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake into the liver was observed, compared with that into the spleen, in this patient, indicating that FDG positron emission tomography and computed tomography might be useful for the diagnosis of hepatic amyloidosis with mild liver dysfunction.

Keywords:

• amyloidosis
• diagnosis
• hepatic involvement
• FDG PET

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all medical staff at the liver unit of Chiba University Hospital.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.