Uncommon aetiology in renal amyloidosis.

Nine paraplegic patients due to spinal cord injury of various aetiology, developing renal amyloidosis are presented and the old literature is reviewed. All the patients were male and their mean age was 24.8 +/- 1.5 years. The mean interval between the start of primary disease and the diagnosis of amyloidosis was 2.4 +/- 0.3 years. Five patients (55%) died and four patients (45%) are alive. This study is of interest because of (1) the rarity of renal amyloidosis in paraplegic patients, (2) the short duration between the onset of the primary disease and the amyloidosis, (3) the young age of the patients, (4) and the striking clinical improvement after treatment of the primary disease.