60-year-old with amyloid cured through medication

Sixty-year-old Usha Kale, a resident of Somwar Peth was diagnosed with the rare condition of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), which increases the risk of stroke due to bleeding and dementia. She was diagnosed with the condition after she suffered a stroke and taken to a hospital for treatment.

Kale was brought to Ruby Hall Clinic, Pune, earlier this month when she complained of sudden loss of speech and weakness in one side of her body.

She had completely gone blank and complained of sudden drowsiness and stopped responding altogether. Kale had to be shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) owing to sudden bleeding, and steroids were administered as a last recourse.

Unfortunately, patients suffering from CAA cannot be kept on blood thinners; the only way to stop the bleeding is keeping their blood pressure under control. Kale responded well to the steroids and other medicines for controlling her bleeding, said the doctors.

Dr Rajas Deshpande, director, neurology department, Ruby Hall Clinic, said, "The patient's blood vessels become brittle due to the loss of elasticity. Elasticity is lost because of the deposition of an abnormal protein called amyloid in the wall of the blood vessels. Such patients develop sudden bleeding in the brain, which may or may not be related to increase in the blood pressure. This can happen anytime without warning; the condition could also develop if family members have the same ailment."

Dr Deshpande explained, "Kale suffered sudden stroke and had bleeding in the frontal lobe of her brain, and during the treatment she gradually recovered. Medicines for reducing the swelling on the brain around the bleeding and anti-convulsant medicines were given."

Dr Nilesh Palasdeokar, consultant neurologist at Noble Hospital, said, "The amyloid protein gets deposited in the walls of the blood vessels of the brain, which can cause bleeding in the patients. There are no symptoms or warning. Bleeding in the brain may occur as tiny blood vessels carrying amyloid deposits become heavier and more brittle, and are, therefore, more likely to burst with minor trauma or with fluctuating blood pressure."

Dr Amod Kale, son of the patient, said, "She has recovered now and been discharged from the hospital, but her response has become slow. Although the condition could be hereditary, but we do not have a family history of CAA."