How patient of multiple myeloma presents?
It is the neoplastic proliferation of plasma cells which infiltrate different tissues in the
body along with the bone marrow. The patient is classically a male person in between
60 and 70 years of age, and presents with:
Back pain (bone pain at the back is the commonest presentation)
Weakness, wasting, pyrexia
Syncope, vertigo, breathlessness as a result of severe anaemia
Renal failure
Recurrent respiratory tract infections
Hyperviscosity syndrome (as a result of aggregation of IgM paraproteins, and is
manifested by headache, bleeding gum, Raynaud’s phenomenon, paraesthesia, CCF,
fluctuating consciousness).
NB: An aged patient with back pain and pallor make the clinician suspicious of multiple
myeloma. Diagnosis is done by the presence of any two of the following investigations
like:
1. Monoclonal immunoglobulin, or light chains in blood or urine (done by protein
electrophoresis)
2. Bone marrow infiltration with malignant plasma cells (by bone marrow biopsy)
3. Osteolytic bone lesions seen in skull, ribs or vertebrae (by radiology).
It is the neoplastic proliferation of plasma cells which infiltrate different tissues in the
body along with the bone marrow. The patient is classically a male person in between
60 and 70 years of age, and presents with:
Back pain (bone pain at the back is the commonest presentation)
Weakness, wasting, pyrexia
Syncope, vertigo, breathlessness as a result of severe anaemia
Renal failure
Recurrent respiratory tract infections
Hyperviscosity syndrome (as a result of aggregation of IgM paraproteins, and is
manifested by headache, bleeding gum, Raynaud’s phenomenon, paraesthesia, CCF,
fluctuating consciousness).
NB: An aged patient with back pain and pallor make the clinician suspicious of multiple
myeloma. Diagnosis is done by the presence of any two of the following investigations
like:
1. Monoclonal immunoglobulin, or light chains in blood or urine (done by protein
electrophoresis)
2. Bone marrow infiltration with malignant plasma cells (by bone marrow biopsy)
3. Osteolytic bone lesions seen in skull, ribs or vertebrae (by radiology).