Amyloidosis of the kidney is classified as being either one of two types: AL or AA. AL (amyloid light chain) amyloidosis or AH (amyloid heavy chain) amyloidosis are plasma cell diseases and made up of either light chain or heavy chain chain predominance. AA amyloidosis is usually secondary to chronic illness such as rheumatoid arthritis, familial mediterranean fever, infections, and sometimes malignancies like renal cell and Hodgkin lymphoma. New techniques using mass spectometry are currently being developed to further characterize these lesions.