Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia and Mononeuritis Multiplex

Excerpt

Primary macroglobulinemia was first described by Waldenström in 1944 and appeared in the American literature in 1956 (1). This disease usually affects elderly persons and is characterized by weakness, weight loss, anemia, bleeding, lymphadenopathy, and hepatosplenomegaly. A marked increase in plasma IgM protein and bone marrow occurs, and lymph nodes and other tissues are infiltrated with lymphocytoid cells. One fourth of the patients with primary macroglobulinemia have neurologic complications, including focal or diffuse brain syndromes, polyneuritis, and subarachnoid hemorrhage (2). To our knowledge, only a single case report of mononeuritis multiplex in association with macroglobulinemia has been published (3). We