Premium
The six‐minute walk test in patients with AL amyloidosis: a single centre case series
Author(s) -
Pulido Vina,
Doros Gheorghe,
Berk John L.,
Sanchorawala Vaishali
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1111/bjh.14586
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiac amyloidosis , amyloidosis , single center , hazard ratio , al amyloidosis , cardiology , natriuretic peptide , confidence interval , heart failure , physical therapy , antibody , immunology , immunoglobulin light chain
Summary The six‐minute walk test (6 MWT ) has been widely used as an objective evaluation of functional exercise capacity and response to medical intervention in cardiopulmonary diseases. However, little is known about the 6 MWT in evaluating patients with AL amyloidosis. We performed a retrospective study of 120 adults with systemic AL amyloidosis (60 with cardiac involvement and 60 without cardiac involvement) who had their initial evaluation at the Amyloidosis Center between 2013 and 2015 and had undergone 6 MWT as a measure of functional exercise capacity. Forty‐seven patients with cardiac involvement and 41 patients without cardiac involvement were included in the final analysis. The six‐minute walk distances (6 MWD ) were 368 ± 105 m and 420 ± 116 m (mean ± SD ), respectively ( P = 0·03). Among AL amyloidosis patients with cardiac involvement, the 6 MWD was associated with New York Heart Association class ( P < 0·001), B‐type natriuretic peptide ( P = 0·003) and overall survival (hazard ratio 0·381, 95% confidence interval 0·215–0·676, P = 0·001). In conclusion, the 6 MWT is a valuable tool in assessing functional exercise capacity in patients with AL amyloidosis.