Amyloid neuropathy simulating lower motor neuron disease

Abstract

We report a 57-year-old man with progressive symmetric weakness and fasciculation affecting the legs. Electromyography revealed fibrillations and neurogenic motor unit potentials in the leg muscles. Biopsy of a motor branch of the obturator nerve revealed axonal degeneration, loss of myelinated nerve fibers, and amyloidosis with deposits of lambda light chains. At 6-month follow-up, the patient manifested sensory and autonomic symptoms, and lambda light chains were first detected in the serum. In this case, diagnosis of amyloidosis remained elusive until motor nerve biopsy.