Macroglobulinemia of Waldenstrom

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Waldenstroms

Macroglobulinemia of Waldenstrom

Alternative Names:

Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia; Macroglobulinemia - primary
Symptoms:

Fatigue
Easy bruising of the skin
Rash
Nosebleeds (epistaxis)
Bleeding of the gums
Unintentional weight loss
Vision loss in one eye
Headache
Dizziness
Blurred or decreased vision
Mental status changes
Peripheral neuropathy (changes in the nerves affecting the hands, feet, fingers, toes, ears, or nose) manifested by:
- Numbness or tingling
- Burning pain

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Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

Signs and tests:

A physical examination may reveal enlarged spleen, liver, and lymph nodes. A retinal eye examination (examination of the eye with an ophthalmoscope) may reveal enlarged (engorged) retinal veins or retinal bleeding (hemorrhages).

A CBC shows low red blood cell count and platelet count.
Serum protein electrophoresis shows a monoclonal spike (increased amount of a monoclonal protein). This may be seen as a serum immunoelectrophoresis that shows an IgM spike or a serum immunofixation that shows an IgM spike.
Urine immunoelectrophoresis shows IgM or a urine test for urine Bence-Jones proteins (quantitative) may be positive.

Bone lesions are very rare. If they are present, a bone marrow examination will show cells that resemble both lymphocytes and plasma cells. A blood chemistry shows evidence of renal disease (kidney disease).

This disease may also alter the results of the following tests: