RSS Feeds
The Anion Gap in Asymptomatic Plasma Cell Dyscrasias
- MICHAEL J. SCHNUR, M.D.;
- GERALD B. APPEL, M.D.;
- GEORGE KARP, M.D.; and
- ELLIOTT P. OSSERMAN, M.D.
Abstract
The presence of a low anion gap in patients with multiple myeloma has recently been emphasized. This has been related to the retention of chloride and bicarbonate anions to offset the cationic charge of the monoclonal immunoglobulins. We now report the presence of a low anion gap in 50 patients with asymptomatic plasma cell dyscrasias. No correlation was found between the size of the anion gap and the height of the paraprotein "spike" or the size of the anion gap and an index of the net cationic charge of the monoclonal immunoglobulins.
Article and Author Information
-
▸From the Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University; and the Presbyterian Hospital; New York, New York.
-
Grant support: Grant CA 02332 of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health; Bethesda, Maryland.
-
▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Gerald B. Appel, M.D.; Section of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale-New Haven Medical Center, 333 Cedar Street; New Haven, CT 06510.
-
- Received July 30, 1976.
- Accepted December 10, 1976.
