Title: Diagnosis of Minimal Amyloid Deposits by Congo Red Fluorescence and Amyloid Type-Specific Immunohistochemistry: A Review
Abstract: The diagnosis of amyloidosis on tissue sections containing minute amounts of amyloid poses the severe problem of making an incorrect diagnosis, due to the low sensitivity of the classical Congo red procedure. Increasing the sensitivity by using amyloid antibodies advanced the diagnosis by more than 2 years, according to a retrospective study. Even more sensitive is the application of Congo red fluorescence by means of which the missing of amyloid deposits rarely occurs. Nevertheless, diagnosis of amyloid is not trivial. To arrive at a flawless diagnosis, the awareness of the many pitfalls and if possible their remedies is mandatory, in particular those concerning sampling errors. The goal for the patient is to get the diagnosis of amyloid at the earliest clinical stages, concomitant with the clinician's first suspicion, in order to get an early typing of amyloid and a suitable respective therapy before organ damage can occur, thus giving the chance of improving the course of the otherwise fatal disease. By using these expert methods, in tissue samples (evaluated as amyloid negative by the classical Congo red method or even by electron microscopy), amyloid could nevertheless be detected and thus diagnosis of amyloidosis could be made.
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-01-01
Language: en
Type: review
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 2
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