OBJECTIVETo evaluate the usage of Mayo staging system in Chinese patients with primary light chain (LC) amyloidosis.

METHODClinical data, treatment and outcome of 162 primary LC amyloidosis patients with Mayo Clinic staging in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2009 to June 2015 were retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTSThe median age of 162 patients with Mayo Clinic 2004 stage was 57 (20-81) y, of them 62.3% were male. The number of patients with stage I to III were 44 (27.2%), 69 (42.6%), and 49 (30.2%), respectively. The median overall survival was not reached, 23 months and 12 months in patients with Mayo Clinic 2004 stage I, II, and III, respectively (P<0.001). Among 128 patients with Mayo Clinic 2012 stage, 48 patients (37.5%), 32 patients (25.0%), 32 patients (25.0%) and 16 patients (12.5%) were staged as Mayo Clinic 2012 stage 1 to 4, and the median OS was not reached, not reached, 13 months and 3 months, respectively (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONMayo Clinic staging systems had important prognostic value in patients with primary LC amyloidosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Amyloidosis ; diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin Light-chain Amyloidosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Young Adult

Objective: To evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of very high risk patients with primary immunoglobulin light-chain amyloidosis (pAL) at a single center in China. Method: Clinical data, treatment and outcome of 205 pAL patients in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 2009 to February 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. A 'very high risk’ group includes patients with Mayo 2004 stage Ⅲb and Mayo 2012 stage 4. Results: Of 205 patients, 34 (16.6%) were defined as very high risk pAL patients. The median age at diagnosis was 57 (20-84) years, and 22 patients (64.7%) were male. All 34 patients were diagnosed with cardiac involvement, multi-organ involvement was observed in 15 patients (44.1%) , and 27 (81.8%) had New York Heart Association Class Ⅲ or Ⅳ. Median values of serum cTnI, NT-proBNP, and free light chains difference were 0.25 μg/L, 11 733 ng/L, and 403 mg/L, respectively. Eight (24.2%) had more than 10% plasma cell on the bone marrow aspirate. Sixteen (47.1%) patients received bortezomib based chemotherapy and overall hematologic response rate was 58.3%. Median overall survival (OS) was 4 months. The estimated OS at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months was 51.3%, 44.0%, 35.2%, and 29.6%, respectively. Fourteen (41.2%) patients died within 3 months after the diagnosis. The estimated 1-year survival rate for the patients who got hematologic response, without hematologic response, and palliative treatment was 90.9%, 11.1%, and 0, respectively (P<0.001) . Conclusion Patients with very high risk pAL had very poor prognosis and the early death rate remained high. Those patients who obtained hematologic remission would have significantly better outcomes.

Objective To explore the effects of early essential newborn care (EENC) on short-term maternal and neonatal health and to evaluate the satisfaction and acceptability of both patients and medical staff in the operating room regarding the implementation of EENC during term cesarean section(CS). Methods Two hundred gravidas who underwent CS in Wenzhou Medical University Affiliated Women and Children Hospital from January 2018 to April 2018 were recruited in this prospective study. According to the odd or even number of their medical records, these women were randomly divided into EENC or control group, 100 in each. EENC was offered to those in the EENC group immediately after birth, including drying the newborn immediately and thoroughly, mother–infant skin-to-skin contact at least 90 min and initiating the first breastfeeding, and delayed cord clamping until l-3 min after birth. Routine neonatal care was provided to the control group, including regular drying, insufficient skin-to-skin contact and cord clamping within 1 min after birth. Differences were compared between the two groups in the incidence of abnormal pulse, low oxygen saturation, hypothermia and mild asphyxia from the neonatal aspect and the incidence of postpartum hemorrhage and early initiation of breastfeeding from the maternal aspect. The acceptability and satisfaction of all the participants and the medical staff were also analyzed. t-test and Chi-square test were used as statistical methods. Results All of the 200 participants were finally analyzed. In the EENC group, the incidence of neonatal hypothermia [2% (2/100) vs 13% (13/100), χ2=8.721, P=0.003] and maternal postpartum hemorrhage [1% (1/100) vs 6% (6/100), χ2=5.701, P=0.035] were lower comparing to the control group, while the initiation rate of early breastfeeding was higher [56% (56/100) vs 5% (5/100), χ2=61.352, P<0.001]. There was no significant difference in the incidence of neonatal abnormal pulse, low oxygen saturation or mild asphyxia between the two groups (all P>0.05). The scores of maternal satisfaction (24.6±0.4 vs 23.4±1.9, t=6.443, P=0.001) and acceptability (24.3±0.5 vs 23.5±1.4, t=5.436, P=0.001) in the EENC group were also significantly higher than those in the control. For the obstetric operation team, the acceptability scores among obstetricians (22.6±0.8 vs 21.6±1.3, t=2.379, P=0.019), instrument nurses (23.2±0.9 vs 21.3±1.1, t=13.592, P<0.001) and anesthetists (22.6±0.9 vs 21.5±1.7, t=5.625, P=0.001) in the EENC group were higher than those in the control group. However, no significant difference was observed in the acceptability among rounding nurses between the two groups (P=0.086). Conclusions EENC during CS could stabilize the neonatal temperature, reduce postpartum hemorrhage, promote early breastfeeding and improve the maternal satisfaction as well as the acceptability of both obstetric operation team and puerperae. There is a clinical significance to promote EENC during CS.

Objective:To investigate the clinical features and outcomes of patients with light-chain (AL) amyloidosis with an ultra-high level of serum free light-chain (FLC) .Methods:Five hundred and ninety-five patients with AL amyloidosis were retrospectively reviewed between January 2009 and January 2020 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. We analyzed the clinical features and prognosis of patients with ultra-high FLC levels [difference between involved and uninvolved light chains (dFLC) >500 mg/L; n=124] and those without ultra-high FLC levels (dFLC≤500 mg/L; n=471) . Results:Patients with ultra-high FLC presented with more frequent cardiac involvement (82.3% vs 70.1%, P=0.007) , and a higher percentage of patients with 2004 Mayo Ⅲ stage (41.8% vs 33.8%, P=0.029) , but less frequent renal involvement than patients without an ultra-high FLC (59.7% vs 71.8%, P=0.009) . Patients with an ultra-high FLC achieved a lower proportion of hematologic (72.4% vs 82.3%, P=0.048) and cardiac response (37.3% vs 54.7%, P=0.016) and had shorter overall survival (13.0 months vs not reached, P<0.001) and a higher early death rate within 3 months (28.2% vs 11.3%, P<0.001) than those without an ultra-high FLC. Ultra-high FLC independently predicted worse prognosis in patients with AL amyloidosis ( HR=2.279, 95% CI 1.685-3.083, P<0.001) . Conclusions:Patients with an initially ultra-high FLC represented a subgroup with more common cardiac involvement, more advanced cardiac stages, and extremely poor prognosis.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and outcome of patients with type Ⅱ cryoglobulinemia in our center.Methods:Clinical data of 61 patients diagnosed with type Ⅱ cryoglobulinemia in Peking Union Medical College hospital from May 2015 to January 2020 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:A total of 61 patients were enrolled in the study, including 26 (42.6%) males, with a median age of 53 (range 28-79) years. The primary diseases identified were hepatitis C virus infection (21.3%) , hepatitis B virus infection (21.3%) , autoimmune diseases (14.8%) , and hematological tumors (11.5%) . Idiopathic cryoglobulinemia patients accounted for 19 cases (31.1%) . The major symptoms presented were purpura, proteinuria, hematuria, renal failure, fever and arthralgia. The median concentration of cryoglobulin level was 215.9 (22.0-17 075.8) g/L, and the IgM-monoclonal component of cryoglobulin was identified in 54 patients (88.5%) . Rheumatoid factor increased in 93.2% of patients. C3 decreased in 57.6% of patients. C4 decreased in 61.0% of patients. Treatment was initiated in 49 patients (80.3%) , and the total clinical remission rate was 75.5%. The expected 3-year overall survival was 89.3%.Conclusion:Type Ⅱ cryoglobulinemia was a systemic disease with multi-organ involvement. Most type Ⅱ CGs were secondary to hepatitis virus infection. Early diagnosis and proper treatment could bring better outcome.

Objective: To evaluate the response of oral melphalan plus high-dose dexamethasone (MDex) for patients with primary light chain amyloidosis (pAL). Methods: Clinical data, hematological and organ responses, and survival of 76 patients with pAL who had received MDex from January 2009 to July 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Of 76 patients (47 males and 29 females with the median age of 56 [range, 20-74] years old), 19.70% patients were defined as Mayo 2004 stage 3, involvement of more than or two organs was presented in 65 (85.53%) patients. Among 60 response evaluable patients, overall hematological response was 48.33% with complete response of 20.00% and very good partial response of 20.00%, respectively. The median time to the hematological response was 5 (range, 1-15) months. 36.67% patients achieved organ response. After the median follow up of 23(range, 1-113) months for surviving patients, median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 34 and 43 months, respectively. In a three months landmark analysis, the median rates of PFS and OS were 46 and 65 months, respectively. The median OS rates of patients with Mayo 2004 stage 3 and non Mayo 2004 stage 3 were 5 and 65 months (P=0.001), respectively. Conclusions MDex was an effective treatment for patients with early stage pAL, but was not suitable for those with severe cardiac involvement.

Objective: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is a diagnostic tool that provides precise and reproducible information about cardiac structure, function, and tissue characterization, aiding in the monitoring of chemotherapy response in patients with lightchain cardiac amyloidosis (AL-CA). This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of CMR in monitoring responses to chemotherapy in patients with AL-CA. Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, we enrolled 111 patients with AL-CA (50.5% male; median age, 54 [interquartile range, 49–63] years). Patients underwent longitudinal monitoring using biomarkers and CMR imaging. At followup after chemotherapy, patients were categorized into superior and inferior response groups based on their hematological and cardiac laboratory responses to chemotherapy. Changes in CMR findings across therapies and differences between response groups were analyzed. Results: Following chemotherapy (before vs. after), there were significant increases in myocardial T2 (43.6 ± 3.5 ms vs. 44.6 ± 4.1 ms; P = 0.008), recovery in right ventricular (RV) longitudinal strain (median of -9.6% vs. -11.7%; P = 0.031), and decrease in RV extracellular volume fraction (ECV) (median of 53.9% vs. 51.6%; P = 0.048). These changes were more pronounced in the superior-response group. Patients with superior cardiac laboratory response showed significantly greater reductions in RV ECV (-2.9% [interquartile range, -8.7%–1.1%] vs. 1.7% [-5.5%–7.1%]; P = 0.017) and left ventricular ECV (-2.0% [-6.0%–1.3%] vs. 2.0% [-3.0%–5.0%]; P = 0.01) compared with those with inferior response. Conclusion Cardiac amyloid deposition can regress following chemotherapy in patients with AL-CA, particularly showing more prominent regression, possibly earlier, in the RV. CMR emerges as an effective tool for monitoring associated tissue characteristics and ventricular functional recovery in patients with AL-CA undergoing chemotherapy, thereby supporting its utility in treatment response assessment.

Objective: To improve the understanding of rare anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) positive IgM monoclonal gammopathy related peripheral neuropathy (IgM-PN) . Methods: Eleven cases of IgM paraproteinemia and anti-MAG antibody positive neuropathy diagnosed since 2014 in Peking Medical Union College Hospital were summarized. The medical records including clinical manifestation, lab results, treatment and prognosis were analyzed. Results: Among the 11 patients (8 male and 3 female) , the median onset age is 63 years old (range from 52 to 77 years old) . The peripheral neuropathy of 9 patients were characterized by distal onset of numbness, 6 patients suffered from muscle weakness. The nerve conduction velocity study indicated that all 11 patients had demyelinating peripheral nerve damage, which was sensory predominant and more severe in lower limbs, 6 of them had secondary axonal damage. Monoclonal IgM gammopathy was identified in all 11 patients, among which 6 were IgM κ, 2 IgG κ and IgM κ bi-clonal, 3 IgM λ. Three patients were diagnosed with Waldenström’s macroglobulinaemia. The anti-MAG-IgM antibody was positive in all 11 cases. After diagnosis, 9 patients received combination chemotherapy including rituximab or rituximab treatment alone. The monoclonal IgM level declined significantly in 7 patients. The neuropathy was stable or improved. Conclusions Anti-MAG antibody positive IgM-PN is a rare M protein related disease. In peripheral neuropathy with undetermined etiology, we suggest to screen M protein and anti-MAG antibody. Chemotherapy including rituximab or rituximab alone is recommended as first-line therapy.