This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study of 54 patients with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR), predominantly the V142I variant (88.9% African American). The study reviewed treatment patterns and neuropathy documentation, with no reported comparator or follow-up duration.
Among the 54 patients, 51 (94.4%) had confirmed cardiac involvement. Of the 42 eligible cardiac patients, 40 (95.2%) received stabilizers (tafamidis, acoramidis, diflunisal). Overall, 16 patients (29.6%) received gene silencers (patisiran, vutrisiran, eplontersen), and 13 patients (24.1%) received both a stabilizer and a gene silencer concurrently.
Possible neuropathy was documented in 30 patients (55.6%). Gene silencer use was highest among those with objective neuropathy (8/17, 47.1%) versus symptoms only (1/10, 10.0%). All three patients without confirmed cardiac disease received gene silencers.
Safety and tolerability were not reported. Key limitations include the retrospective design, single-center analysis, limited EMG completion (57.4%), and a population that may limit generalizability. Findings support systematic neurological assessment in hATTR, even when cardiac disease predominates, but associations do not imply causation.
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Background: Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (hATTR) manifests as cardiomyopathy and/or polyneuropathy. The V142I variant predominantly causes cardiac disease in African Americans, though neurological involvement may be underrecognized. We characterized neuropathy documentation and treatment patterns in a predominantly V142I cohort. Methods: Retrospective review of 54 hATTR patients at a major academic medical center. Neuropathy was classified as: objective (abnormal EMG), possible polyneuropathy (documented symptoms suggestive of polyneuropathy), symptoms only (neuropathic symptoms without specialist evaluation), or unclear. Treatment with stabilizers (tafamidis, acoramidis, diflunisal) and gene silencers (patisiran, vutrisiran, eplontersen) was assessed. Results: Of 54 patients (88.9% African American, 85.2% V142I), 51 (94.4%) had confirmed cardiac involvement. Among cardiac patients, 40/42 eligible (95.2%) received stabilizers. Overall, 16 patients (29.6%) received gene silencers, with 13 (24.1%) receiving both a stabilizer and gene silencer concurrently. Possible neuropathy (objective, possible polyneuropathy, or symptoms) was documented in 30 patients (55.6%). Gene silencer use was highest among those with objective neuropathy (8/17, 47.1%) versus symptoms only (1/10, 10.0%). All three patients without confirmed cardiac disease received gene silencers. Conclusions: In this V142I-predominant cohort with 94.4% cardiac involvement, stabilizer use was high (95.2%) among eligible patients. Over half had possible neuropathy based on clinical documentation, though EMG completion was limited (57.4%). Gene silencer use was associated with objective neuropathy documentation and non-cardiac phenotype. These findings support systematic neurological assessment in hATTR, even when cardiac disease predominates.