Report on 59 patients with renal amyloidosis.

We studied a group of 59 patients with renal amyloidosis. Mean age (45 male, 14 female) was 33.05+/-13.04 years. All of the cases had secondary amyloidosis. The causes of secondary amyloidosis were as follows: familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) 18 (30.5%), pulmonary tuberculosis 12 (20.33%), chronic oseomyelitis 8 (13.55%), bronchiectasia 9 (15.25%), rheumatic diseases 4 (6.4%), Castleman's disease 1 (1.6%), unknown aetiology 7 (11.86%). Hypertension was detected in 15.3% of the cases. In patients with less than 20 ml/min creatinine clearance (Ccr) hypertension was found in 20%. Hypotension was detected in 6 patients and all of these cases had severe hypoalbuminaemia (<2.1 g/dl). Nephrotic range proteinuria (>3.5 g/day) was found in 75% of cases. Daily proteinuria was correlated with serum levels of albumin, total lipid and cholesterol, haematocrit and duration of disease. The mean Ccr was 51.03+/-40.60 ml/min. Twenty-nine per cent of patients had Ccr less than 20 ml/min. Renal, subcutaneous fat and rectal biopsies demonstrated amyloid in 100%, 20% and 57.6%, respectively, of patients tested. Patients with secondary amyloidosis were treated with colchicine in addition to the therapy of primary disease (in 6 patients). Nine patients died, and end-stage renal disease developed in 12 patients during four years of follow-up. Proteinuria disappeared or decreased in patients with secondary amyloidosis except secondary to collagen tissue disease, without advanced renal failure. Colchicine did not affect amyloid deposition in 2 patients with normal renal function and negative proteinuria, who were rebiopsied. It can be questioned that "Colchicine may have effect(s) for decrement on proteinuria". At least colchicine can be of use in secondary amyloidosis.