Background: Anemia can be secondary to many diseases and hypercalcemia can be secondary to oral calcium supplementation. For non-hematologists, anemia and hypercalcemia are usually ignored. Here we report a case of persistent mild anemia and hypercalcemia which were ignored as a normal reaction secondary to oral calcium supplementation in a steroid-dependent asthma patient; it was ultimately diagnosed as multiple myeloma.
Methods: Bone marrow puncture, combined serum, and urine laboratory indexes were performed for diagnosis.
Results: A bone marrow puncture specimen comprised 31.5% plasma cells. The serum and urine immunoelectrophoresis showed monoclonal kappa light chains.
Conclusions: When anemia and hypercalcemia occur in an elderly patient, physicians should pay attention to multiple myeloma, especially when accompanied with vertebral and flat bone fractures.