Isolated amyloidosis of the atrioventricular valves. A study of one case, curiously associated with diffuse storage of plant wax paraffin

Abstract

Autopsy of a 55-year-old man, whose death was due to coronary failure, revealed: localized amyloidosis limited to the leaflets of the atrioventricular valves and their chordae tendinae, with no apparent relationship to atherosclerosis, and deposits of crystallized vegetable hydrocarbons of dietary origin, mainly in the lungs, lymph nodes and liver. Observations of isolated amyloidosis in healthy valves are exceptional. The association with multi-organ deposition of vegetable wax hydrocarbons raises the question of a possible link between these two entities.