Key Information
Overview: what cardiac amyloidosis means
Cardiac amyloidosis is a disease in which abnormal proteins, called amyloid, build up inside the heart tissue. These deposits make the heart muscle thicker and stiffer, so it cannot fill and pump as effectively as it should. Over time, this can lead to symptoms that resemble heart failureexternal link, opens in a new tab, rhythm problems, or low blood pressure.
The condition is not a single disease but a heart manifestation of different amyloid disorders. The two main types are light-chain amyloidosis (AL), which is linked to abnormal plasma cells in the bone marrow, and transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), which is caused by misfolding of the transthyretin protein. ATTR may be hereditary or may develop with aging in its wild-type form.
Cardiac amyloidosis was once considered uncommon and difficult to recognize. Today, awareness is higher and testing is more precise, which means many people can be diagnosed earlier than in the past. That matters because the outlook and treatment strategy depend strongly on the exact amyloid type and how advanced the condition is at the time of diagnosis.