Biclonal Gammopathy as a Misleading Indicator to Diagnose POEMS Syndrome: An Autopsy Case Report and a Review of the Literature

Cureus. 2022 May 20;14(5):e25153. doi: 10.7759/cureus.25153. eCollection 2022 May.

Abstract

A 76-year-old man presented with a four-month history of progressive bilateral lower limb muscle weakness and dysesthesia. The patient had extravascular volume overload, and laboratory findings confirmed hypothyroidism, renal dysfunction, and chronic inflammation. Serum protein and immunofixation electrophoresis revealed biclonality of immunoglobulin A (IgA)-kappa and IgA-lambda, which was attributed to chronic inflammation. Subsequently, we detected the proliferation of monoclonal plasma cells in the bone marrow, which led to a diagnosis of POEMS syndrome. Despite the initiation of chemotherapy, the patient died of aspiration pneumonia. In this case, biclonal gammopathy in peripheral blood delayed a diagnosis of POEMS syndrome.

Keywords: biclonal gammopathy; clonality; discrepancy; plasma cell myeloma; poems syndrome.

Publication types

  • Case Reports