Three patients who suffered from potentially deadly
heart failure were remarkably freed from their symptoms after their condition was found to have spontaneously reversed, found a new study that reported on the unprecedented cases.
Transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis, the deadly condition, is caused by the build-up of sticky, toxic proteins in the
heart. Until now, it was thought to be irreversible as half the patients suffering from the condition died within four years of diagnosis.
But the new study, published recently in the journal
The New England Journal of Medicine, reported the cases of three men, aged 68, 76 and 82, who were diagnosed with the condition but later recovered.
Researchers, including those from
University College London (UCL), confirmed the symptom reversal using heart scans that showed the build-up of amyloid proteins had cleared.
“We have seen for the first time that the heart can get better with this disease. That has not been known until now and it raises the bar for what might be possible with new treatments,” said study lead author Marianna Fontana from UCL.
Researchers also found evidence that the three men had antibodies that specifically targeted the amyloid proteins – an immune response that was not found in other patients whose condition progressed as normal.
“Whether these antibodies caused the patients’ recovery is not conclusively proven. However, our data indicates that this is highly likely and there is potential for such antibodies to be recreated in a lab and used as a therapy,” said UCL’s Julian Gillmore, another study author.
The condition is known to be caused by deposits composed of a blood protein called transthyretin, and can be either hereditary or non-hereditary.
