Wadenstrom

Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare lymphoma caused by the overproduction of immunoglobulin M (IgM). The elevated level of IgM causes serum hyperviscosity, cold agglutinins, and cryoglobulinemia. Anemia is also present because of impaired production of erythrocytes. For these reasons, placing a patient with WM on cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) requires careful preparation. In this case, the patient was a 73-year-old male with known Waldenström's disease who required coronary artery bypass graft surgery...

The symptomatology of typical paraproteinemic hemoblastoses (plasma cell myeloma, Wadenström's macroglobulinemia) are well known. Once suspected, diagnosis of these disorders can easily be established in the majority of cases. Differentiation of benign paraproteinemias requiring no treatment is likewise possible by careful observation of the course of disease and relevant clinical criteria. Very seldom, cases of paraproteinemic hemoblastoses are seen which differ from the usual immunoelectrophoretic analysis and clinical picture...