Aim: Estimate the frequency and costs of diagnostic admissions among hospitalized patients with amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis. Materials & methods: This retrospective analysis used nationally representative hospital discharge data from 2017 to 2020 to report resource use and cost for hospitalizations during which AL amyloidosis was diagnosed. Results: Of 1341 admissions, 17.6% were diagnostic. Bone marrow (79.5%) and kidney (44.9%) biopsies were the most common qualifying biopsies. Diagnostic hospitalizations had longer length of stay (14.5 vs 8.4 days; p < 0.001) and higher cost ($40,052 [USD] vs $24,360; p < 0.001) than nondiagnostic ones. Conclusion: Diagnostic admissions are more likely to be urgent/emergent, require longer stays and have higher costs compared with hospitalizations in known AL amyloidosis patients. Improved diagnostic pathways toward early diagnosis are needed.
Keywords: AL amyloidosis; costs; diagnosis; hospitalization.