Thank s to everynbody who responded to my question whether a monoclonal light chain restriction is normal in patients with amyloidosis. The consensus was - although the monoclonal population is certainly not diagnostic of amyloidosis (which is made by Congo-Red staining), the presence of a monoclonal population should be considered suspicious for a lymphoproliferative disorder. Any B-cell process (not just myeloma) that secretes Ig can cause amyloid. It is usually myeloma since they are most likely to secret Ig. Like Mary-Alice put it nicely, a monoclonal population is never good, but it also is not necessarily bad! However, it sure needs to be mentioned in the flow report to raise the flag and follow-up by the clinicains is recommended. Thanks again for all your help! Andrea Illingworth, MS, H(ASCP) Dahl-Chase Flow Cytometry 333 State Street Bangor, Maine 04401
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