Prior Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Early Concomitant Echocardiographic Findings Among Patients With Cardiac Amyloidosis

Background: We aimed to characterize patients with systemic amyloidosis stratified by a prior diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and to describe early echocardiographic parameters concomitant with CTS.

Methods and results: Patients with suspected amyloidosis during CTS diagnosis were excluded. Our cohort included 108 patients with systemic amyloidosis of which 36% had a prior CTS at a median of 4 years (interquartile range [IQR] 2.8-6.7 years) before disease diagnosis. Patients with prior CTS were more likely to present subsequently with cardiac amyloidosis (78% vs 53%, P = .013), yet overall survival was comparable between groups (53% vs 61%, P = .825). Prior CTS was more commonly diagnosed in subsequent patients with transthyretin (62%) than in patients with immunoglobulin light chain (24%, P < .001). Furthermore, in a subanalysis of patients subsequently diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis, findings at CTS diagnosis (n = 17) demonstrated a mild increase in septal thickness 1.3 cm (IQR 1.2-1.5 cm), increased relative wall thickness 0.46 cm (IQR 0.45-0.58 cm), and increased left ventricular mass index 155 g/m²(IQR 92-177 g/m²) compared with age-adjusted normal range echocardiographic values. Doppler mitral flow data was supportive of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction.

Conclusions: Early echocardiographic findings at CTS diagnosis, preceding the diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis by several years, are suggestive of increased wall thickness and diastolic dysfunction.