Diagnosis of systemic amyloidosis and amyloidosis mediated cardiomyopathy by VATS pleural biopsy for chronic pleural effusion.

Amyloidosis is a family of diseases characterized by the extracellular accumulation of amyloid protein, causing altered physiology based on its abnormal deposition in an organ. The etiology of persistent pleural effusions in patients with systemic amyloidosis is unknown. Endomyocardial biopsy is the gold standard of diagnosis for patients with cardiac involvement in systemic amyloidosis. We present the case of a patient with systemic amyloidosis whose diagnosis was made by pleural pathology collected via video-assisted thoracic surgery after a false negative endomyocardial biopsy.