Uncertain Value of Urinary Sediments in the Diagnosis of Amyloidosis

IN their article on the appearance of amyloid fibrils in the urinary sediment of a patient with amyloidosis1 Derosena, Koss and Pirani emphasized its potential clinical, diagnostic and investigative value. This study was followed by several reports2 3 4 that in effect supported this view. Contrary to these reports and to our expectation, however, our own preliminary attempts to detect amyloid-related substances in urine by immunologic methods using antiserums to amyloid protein AA (the major and unique constituent of secondary amyloid)5 had failed. We therefore conducted a systematic study for the appearance of amyloid in urine sediments and of its clinical and . . .