Rheumatic heart disease associated with secondary renal amyloidosis.

Introduction: Amyloidosis is a disorder of protein folding in which normally soluble proteins undergo conformational changes and are deposited in the extracellular space in an abnormal fibrillar form. Accumulation of these fibrils causes progressive disruption of the structure and function of tissues and organs, and the systemic forms of amyloidosis are frequently fatal. The conditions that underlie amyloid deposition may be either acquired or hereditary.