Plasma Cell Dyscrasia with Polyneuropathy, Organomegaly, Endocrinopathy, M Protein, and Skin Changes

P. A. BARDWICK, Nathan J. Zvaifler, Gordon N. Gill, Denis Newman, Guerdon Greenway, Donald Resnick

Medicine · 1980 · 695 citations · 0 references

Concepts

Abstract

Two patients with plasma cell dyscrasias, manifested by osteosclerotic bone lesions and small amounts of M protein, and a complicating multi-system disorder are described. Their features of severe sensory-motor polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrine dysfunction, anasarca, elevated CSF protein, and skin hyperpigmentation are similar to a clinical syndrome reported primarily in Japanese men. Two previously unrecognized findings--hyperprolactinemia and an unusual radiographic abnormality of fluffy, spiculated bony proliferation--may facilitate recognition of the syndrome. The relationship of these various manifestations to the plasma cell dyscrasia is unknown, but a number of possibilities are discussed.