Gastrointestinal involvement with myeloma.

Abstract

A patient with IgA-k multiple myeloma is presented. There was initially a good response to chemotherapy but the patient later developed small intestinal obstruction. This was due to multiple polypoid plasmacytomas. The mesenteric nodes were also involved, and were found on immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry with double fluorescent labelling to be composed of two separate populations of cells (IgA-k and IgG-k), one population having a diploid content of DNA and the other tetraploid. These two distinct cell populations differed in both proliferative characteristics and size. The findings are discussed and the literature relating to gastrointestinal involvement in plasma cell dyscrasias reviewed.