{"id":31,"date":"2009-10-23T15:09:37","date_gmt":"2009-10-23T19:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/doctors\/testing\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T08:04:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:04:00","slug":"testing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/diagnostics\/testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Laboratory Testing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"photo-right styled alignright\" alt=\"Green Fat Pad\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/files\/images\/fat-pad-green.jpg\" width=\"125\" height=\"141\" align=\"right\" \/>The\u00a0<em>sine qua non<\/em>\u00a0for the diagnosis of amyloidosis is a tissue biopsy staining positive with Congo red and demonstrating green birefringence under polarized light microscopy. Electron microscopy will also show a classical fibrillar appearance in the extracellular matrix.<\/p>\n<p>It is important to avoid over-staining the tissue with Congo red as this may give false results. The technique of subcutaneous fat pad aspiration offers a simple and relatively non-invasive approach to the diagnosis of systemic amyloidosis and is positive in 70-80 % of patients with systemic amyloidosis. If the fat is negative, but suspicion of disease is high, a biopsy of an involved organ system (e.g., heart, kidney, or liver) may need to be done to make the diagnosis. An involved organ is positive nearly 100% of the time.<\/p>\n<p><b><span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Providers can send biopsy material for a second opinion, which should always be accompanied by an Amyloid Pathology Consultation For<\/span><\/b><strong>m, to:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Boston Medical Center<br \/>\nDepartment of Anatomic Pathology Accessioning Area<br \/>\n670 Albany Street, 3rd Floor Rm 328<br \/>\nBoston, MA 02118<br \/>\nPhone: 617-638-6994<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/diagnostics\/testing\/sending-pathologic-samples-for-amyloidosis-diagnostic-testing\/\" title=\"Sending Pathologic Samples For Amyloidosis Diagnostic Testing\">Sending Tissue Samples for Amyloid Histopathology<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/doctors\/fat-procedure\/\">Abdominal Fat Aspirate Procedure<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/doctors\/fat-staining\/\">Abdominal Fat Aspirate Staining Technique<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1bdjUF7q_fr5FY1A8TCn6B2gTR8cYMEWz\/view?usp=sharing\">Amyloid Pathology Consultation Form<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/13t-17mjIqOd_Cq2hOIoi1lULLpb9L5xy\/view?usp=sharing\">Amyloid Pathology Consultation Form &#8211; VA Patients<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/bostonmedical.box.com\/v\/FatPadAspirate\">Abdominal Fat Aspirate Diagram for Patients<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0sine qua non\u00a0for the diagnosis of amyloidosis is a tissue biopsy staining positive with Congo red and demonstrating green birefringence under polarized light microscopy. Electron microscopy will also show a classical fibrillar appearance in the extracellular matrix. It is important to avoid over-staining the tissue with Congo red as this may give false results. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1963,"featured_media":0,"parent":547,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1963"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5034,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31\/revisions\/5034"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/amyloid\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}