Delayed diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis in a West African octogenarian

Abstract

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a common finding on cardiac imaging. Although there are multiple aetiologies for LVH, hypertension is frequently a presumed cause due to its high prevalence in the African region. Establishing a specific cause of LVH however requires thorough clinical evaluation with multimodality cardiac imaging playing a key role in the diagnostic pathway. We report on a case of a West African octogenarian who was treated presumptively for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction from hypertensive heart disease, based on his initial clinical presentation and echocardiographic findings three years earlier. By adopting a stepwise approach to his evaluation, including revisiting the history, and the application of multimodality cardiac imaging, the patient was diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis.

Keywords: West Africa; cardiac amyloidosis; heart failure; left ventricular hypertrophy.