DOI: 10.12890/2014_000167

Multiple Myeloma Presenting with Distal Limb Gangrene: An Odd Case Report

Authors

  • Joana Jacinto Internal Medicine Department, Central Hospital of Funchal SESARAM, Funchal
  • Alexandra Malheiro Internal Medicine Department, Central Hospital of Funchal SESARAM, Funchal
  • Andreia Pestana Central Hospital of Funchal - SESARAM
  • Tiago Freitas Internal Medicine Department, Central Hospital of Funchal SESARAM, Funchal
  • M. Luz Brazão Internal Medicine Department, Central Hospital of Funchal SESARAM, Funchal

joana_jacinto@hotmail.com

Keywords

Multiple myeloma, hyperviscosity, gangrene

Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasmocytic malignant proliferation of a single clone resulting in an overabundance of monoclonal immunoglobulins. MM commonly presents with bone disorders, renal failure, anaemia and hypercalcaemia. Hyperviscosity syndrome is rare, as are vaso-occlusive symptoms. The authors report a dramatic case of an 80-year-old woman admitted to the emergency department with full-blown distal gangrene. The culprit turned out to be a MM, unusually presenting with symptomatic hyperviscosity and peripheral occlusive ischaemia. This catastrophic and particularly dramatic presentation is almost unprecedented, with only a few cases reported worldwide.

View the entire article

Downloads

References

  1. International Myeloma Working Group. Criteria for the classification of monoclonal gammopathies, multiple myeloma and related disorders: a report of the International Myeloma Working Group, Br. J. Haematol. 2003;121:749–757.
  2. Carter PW, Cohen HJ, Crawford J. Hyperviscosity syndrome in association with kappa light chain myeloma, Am. J. Med. 1989;86:591.
  3. Bloch KJ, Maki DG. Hyperviscosity syndromes associated with immunoglobulin abnormalities, Semin. Hematol. 1973;10:113–124.
  4. Mortazavizade M, Karimi M, Akhavan M, Soleimani H, Owlia M, Gharahi N. Case report: multiple myeloma with gangrene of extremities, The Journal of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences 2009;17:193–196.
  5. Becker N. Epidemiology of multiple myeloma: recent results, Cancer Res. 2011;183:25–35.

Published

2014-12-01

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2014)

How to Cite

1.
Jacinto J, Malheiro A, Pestana A, Freitas T, Brazão ML. Multiple Myeloma Presenting with Distal Limb Gangrene: An Odd Case Report. EJCRIM [Internet]. 2014 Dec. 1 [cited 2026 Nov. 3];1(1). Available from: https://ejcrim.com/index.php/ejcrim/article/view/167

Most read articles by the same author(s)