[Successful treatment with bortezomib in a patient with systemic primary AL amyloidosis manifesting severe gastrointestinal bleeding].

We present a systemic primary AL amyloidosis patient with severe gastrointestinal bleeding for whom treatment with bortezomib and dexamethasone was very effective. An 83-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital suffering from multiple gastric ulcers with bleeding. She had monoclonal protein (IgG, λ) in her serum. Systemic primary AL amyloidosis was diagnosed. She was also suspected of having amyloid deposition in cardiac muscle, as well as her bladder and intestinal mucosa. However, we were unable to carry out other invasive examinations due to her bleeding tendency. She was treated with bortezomib and dexamethasone. Her bleeding tendency gradually diminished. After one year, the bleeding tendency had completely resolved. However, she still had amyloid deposition in her gastric mucosa and skin.

Characteristics of electrocardiographic repolarization in acute myocardial infarction complicated by ventricular fibrillation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Some de- and re-polarization patterns can reflect an increased risk of ventricular tachyarrhythmias. We studied whether some electrocardiographic (ECG) patterns are able to predict the development of ventricular fibrillation (VF) during acute myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: We compared the patterns of ST-T segment of 78 patients who developed VF during acute MI (patient with VF) vs 170 comparable patients with acute MI but with no VF complications. RESULTS: Of the VF group, 47 developed out-of-hospital VF and 31 developed VF after their admission to the hospital. A steep downsloping ST segment toward a negative T wave with or without a short, flat, or rising portion at the initial portion was observed in 69.2% of the 78 patients: 61.3% in patients with pre-VF and 74.5% in patients with post-VF, vs 9.4% of patients who did not develop VF (P < .0001). In 90.6% of the latter, a typical upward-concave or convex "ischemic" pattern of the ST segment was observed. Thus, the characteristic ST-T patterns were highly associated with VF with a specificity greater than 90%. CONCLUSIONS: A steep downsloping ST segment may characterize the ECGs of patients who develop VF during acute MI.