In an extraordinary turn of events reported by a research team from University College London (UCL) and the Royal Free Hospital, three men who were previously suffering from heart failure due to an accumulation of sticky, toxic proteins are now symptom-free after their condition spontaneously reversed.
This condition is a form of amyloidosis affecting the heart, is progressive, and was previously thought to be irreversible. Historically, the prognosis has been grim with half of individuals dying within four years of diagnosis.
The new study, published as a letter in The New England Journal of Medicine, reports on three men, aged 68, 76, and 82, who were diagnosed with transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis but who later recovered. Their own reports of symptoms improving were confirmed by objective assessments including cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) scans showing that the build-up of amyloid proteins in the heart had cleared.
