MICROSCOPIC DEMONSTRATION, CLASSIFICATION AND CLINICAL CORRELATION OFAMYLOID

Amyloid is a biophysically defined, biochemically non-uniform protein which is deposited in the tissue,forming a cross-beta configuration. I n paraffin sections it is demonstrated using Congo red staining accord ing to Puchtler et al. and a polarizing microscope with a tension-free clean optic system that shows a typical apple-green birefringence. Th e identification cation of amyloid has to be followed by immunostainin g for AA, ATTR, Alambda, Akappa and A beta 2 microglobulin and possibl y further types of amyloids for classification purposes. Considering t he localization, expansion and type localized and generalized types pr obably can be differentiated. The latter should be correlated to a bas ic disease. The treatment of the basic disease is the only chance for reducing or eliminating the amyloid deposits. In this review,the moder n morphological methods for demonstration and both immunohistological and clinical classification of amyloid and amyloidoses are presented. Rare types are mentioned in the tables.