MACROGLOSSIA AS A FIRST SYMPTOM OF AMYLOI DOSIS

Amyloidosis is a term that describes a heterogeneous group of disorder s in which various tissues contain the characteristic insoluble fibril lar protein known as amyloid. A number of different forms of presentat ion have been described and include senile, familial or hereditary, sy stemic, localized, secondary and primary forms. We now report our mana gement of a 79-year old woman who suffered from primary A-lambda-light chain amyloidosis. Amyloid changes first presented in the tissues of the tongue and floor of mouth and were seen clinically as a macrogloss ia. Further investigation led to a primary diagnosis of multiple myelo ma IIa, as categorized by Durie and Salmon. Several cases have been re ported to date describing secondary development of macroglossia due to long-term known and treated multiple myeloma. However, there has been only one report of macroglossia as a primary finding leading to the d iagnosis of multiple myeloma.