Elevated platelet-associated IgG in immune thrombocytopenic purpura associated with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia

✍ Scribed by Katsuya Yamamoto; Kaoru Nagata; Hiroyuki Hamaguchi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 67 KB
• Volume: 69
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0361-8609
• DOI: 10.1002/ajh.10036

✦ Synopsis

To the Editor: We read with interest the paper by Owen et al. [1] describing autoimmune thrombocytopenia associated with Wald-enstroÈ m's macroglobulinemia (WM). They suggested that the overall incidence of autoimmune thrombocytopenia in WM is 3.8%, but only a few cases have been reported in the literature [1À4]. We report here an additional case of WM with immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) that was successfully treated by danazol.

A 62-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for precise evaluation of high IgM level in October 1992. The serum levels of IgM, IgG, and IgA were 2,370, 2,500, and 162 mg/dl, respectively. Immunoelectrophoresis showed a monoclonal gammopathy with an IgM-j protein. Peripheral blood showed hemoglobin 9.3 g/dl, platelets 224 10 9 /1, and white blood cells (WBC) 5.9 ´10 9 /l. Bone marrow was