Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 19, Issue 11 765-770, Copyright © 2000 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Sonographic features of dialysis-related amyloidosis of the shoulder
R. Sommer, G. J. Valen, Y. Ori, T. Weinstein, M. Katz, D. Hendel and A. Korzets
Department of Radiology, The Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva, Israel.
This study evaluated the diagnostic role of ultrasonography in
dialysis-related amyloidosis in shoulders of chronically hemodialyzed
patients. Fourteen shoulders of 12 long-term hemodialysis patients were
examined. All patients had been on dialysis for at least 10 years. All
patients had varying degrees of pain and limitations of movement in the
studied shoulders. Dialysis-related amyloidosis was the presumed diagnosis
in all patients. Any patient with a history of any disease, other than
dialysis-related amyloidosis, capable of producing a pathologic shoulder
condition was excluded. The following parameters were studied:
supraspinatus and biceps tendon thickness, tendon tears, synovial
thickening, and the presence of hypoechoic material around tendons and
within bursae. All shoulders had a nonhomogeneous thickening, greater than
7 mm, of the supraspinatus tendon. Seven shoulders (50%) had abnormal
thickening of the biceps tendon (4 mm or greater), and two shoulders had
abnormal thickening of the subscapularis tendon. Hypoechoic deposits were
seen in the subdeltoid bursae and biceps sheaths in five and six shoulders,
respectively. Three shoulders showed partial tears of the supraspinatus
tendon, one shoulder showed a tear in the biceps tendon, and one shoulder
had a tear in the subscapularis tendon. Ultrasonography is an excellent
imaging modality in diagnosing the presence of dialysis-related amyloidosis
in symptomatic shoulders of long-term hemodialysis patients, without having
to resort to invasive procedures. The results of previous studies have been
confirmed and new ultrasonographic findings described. Of particular
interest is the involvement of the subscapularis tendon in dialysis-related
amyloidosis. Repeat ultrasonography can become an important way to
follow-up progression of shoulder dialysis-related amyloidosis in
hemodialyzed patients.