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Previous Volume 347:1206-1207 October 10, 2002 Number 15 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: We concur with Lachmann et al. (June 6 issue)¹ that therapeutic advances demand accurate typing of amyloid deposits.² Our experience with 465 patients with sporadic, biopsy-proven, systemic amyloidosis indicates that immunoelectron-microscopical typing of amyloid deposits improves diagnostic accuracy and optimizes DNA analysis.³

The diagnosis of AL amyloidosis must not be presumed, and no patient should receive chemotherapy for a monoclonal disorder if the diagnosis has not been verified.⁴ Monoclonality was documented by high-resolution immunofixation⁵ in 96 percent of 446 patients who ultimately received a diagnosis of primary amyloidosis and by immunoelectron microscopy in the remaining 4 percent.

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