Multicentre cross-sectional study for bone-articular lesions associated with dialysis related amyloidosis in Japan.

AIM: Dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA) exhibits multiple bone-articular lesions, such as carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), trigger finger (TF), spinal canal stenosis (SCS), destructive spondyloarthropathy (DSA), bone cysts, and joint pains. DRA leads to a decrease in activities of daily living (ADL). We investigated the initiation of CTS and TF, and evaluated the relationship between walking disturbances and bone-articular lesions or joint pains.

METHODS

A multicentre cross-sectional study was performed. Eighty-two patients with clinical DRA from 20 hospitals in Japan were evaluated.

RESULTS

Of the 82 patients, the first symptom of DRA was CTS in 39 patients (47.6%) and TF in 21 (25.6%). The mean new-onset vintages of 21 earlier cases in the CTS and TF groups were 86.1 ± 36.3 and 133.2 ± 56.4 (mean ± SD) months, respectively (P = 0.0091). The development of SCS and DSA appeared to be later than CTS and TF. Multiple regression analysis revealed that knee joint pain was a significant contributor to walking disturbances.

CONCLUSION

Carpal tunnel syndrome appeared significantly earlier than TF since the initiation of dialysis. In the advanced phase, knee joint pain was a major cause of decreased ADL in patients with clinical DRA.