Endoscopic and histopathological features of gastrointestinal amyloidosis

Table 1 Comparison of characteristics of amyloid light chains and amyloid A amyloidosis[1,2,6,7]

	amyloid light chains amyloidosis	amyloid A amyloidosis
Causes	Idiopathy and plasma cell dyscrasias	Chronic inflammatory disorders and infections
Deposition	Monoclonal immunoglobulin light chains	Serum amyloid A protein
Gastrointestinal site of amyloid deposition	The muscularis mucosae, submucosa and muscularis propria	The propria mucosae
Gastrointestinal symptoms	Constipation, mechanical obstruction and chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction	Diarrhea, malabsorption and weight loss
Endoscopic and radiological features	Polypoid protrusions and thickening of the folds	Fine granular appearance and mucosal friability
Treatments	Prokinetic agents and myeloma-type chemotherapy	Control of the underlying inflammatory disorders