Cardiac amyloidosis: The great masquerader

Abstract

Cardiac amyloidosis is an elusive condition that is notorious for mimicking various cardiovascular conditions that present with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The hypertrophy in amyloidosis is typically diffuse; however, rare reports of echocardiographic resemblances with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) exist, such as asymmetric septal hypertrophy and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. Cardiac MRI can help differentiate amyloidosis from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in unclear situations. This differentiation from HCM and other forms of cardiomyopathy has important treatment implications. Here we present the case of a 76-year-old man with cardiomyopathy who had echocardiographic features of asymmetric hypertrophic cardiomyopathy but was correctly diagnosed with amyloidosis with the help of cardiac MRI and ECG.