Whitepaper: Pharmacy-Led Quality Improvement (QI) Initiative to Enhance Awareness & Early Recognition of Hereditary Amyloid Transthyretin Amyloidosis

July 2025

Hereditary amyloid transthyretin (hATTR) amyloidosis is a rare genetic disease characterized by the deposition of insoluble amyloid fibrils in tissues around the body. Since most patients experience a combination of neurologic and cardiovascular symptoms,¹^,² the disease is challenging to recognize. 

Although the five-year survival rate for patients with hATTR amyloidosis is only 52.8%,³ early treatment initiation can significantly improve survival outcomes by slowing disease progression.⁴ 

The CPS team designed and implemented a QI initiative that aimed to increase awareness and early recognition of hATTR amyloidosis at one of our client health systems. 

QI Initiative Process Flow

• Education: Pharmacists engaged with health care teams to raise disease awareness and reinforce "red flag" signs and symptoms
• Identification: Pharmacists used a scoring tool to prioritize patients at high risk of having hATTR amyloidosis
• Referral: Pharmacists referred patients at highest risk to their providers
• Evaluation: Providers further evaluated patients to consider the possibility of an hATTR amyloidosis diagnosis and ordered genetic testing if needed
• Impact: Pharmacists conducted follow-up to determine the final outcomes of patient evaluations

See the results and learn more about this QI initiative by downloading the full whitepaper below.

¹ Poli L, Labella B, Cotti Piccinelli S, et al. Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis: a comprehensive review with a focus on peripheral neuropathy. Front Neurol. 2023;14:1242815. doi:10.3389/fneur.2023.1242815 

² Gertz MA, Benson MD, Dyck PJ, et al. Diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of transthyretin amyloidosis. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;66(21):2451-2466. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.09.075 

³ Antonopoulos AS, Panagiotopoulos I, Kouroutzoglou A, et al. Prevalence and clinical outcomes of transthyretin amyloidosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Heart Fail. 2022;24(9):1677-1696. doi:10.1002/ejhf.2589 

⁴ Jain A, Zahra F. Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). Statpearls. Internet. Treasure Island (FL): Statpearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK574531/