Waldenström's macroglobulinemia laboratory findings
|
Waldenström's macroglobulinemia Microchapters |
|
Differentiating Waldenström's macroglobulinemia from other Diseases |
|---|
|
Diagnosis |
|
Treatment |
|
Case Studies |
|
Waldenström's macroglobulinemia laboratory findings On the Web |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Waldenström's macroglobulinemia laboratory findings |
|
Waldenström's macroglobulinemia laboratory findings in the news |
|
Blogs on Waldenström's macroglobulinemia laboratory findings |
|
Directions to Hospitals Treating Waldenström's macroglobulinemia |
|
Risk calculators and risk factors for Waldenström's macroglobulinemia laboratory findings |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sara Mohsin, M.D.[2], Roukoz A. Karam, M.D.[3], Mirdula Sharma, MBBS [4]; ; Grammar Reviewer: Natalie Harpenau, B.S.[5]
Overview
Laboratory findings consistent with the diagnosis of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia include any cytopenia, lymphocytosis, monocytosis, elevated levels of LDH, Beta-2 microglobulin, uric acid, and urea & creatinine, elevated ESR, hypercalcemia, hyponatremia, positive rheumatoid factor, positive cryoglobulins, positive direct anti-globulin test, positive cold agglutinin titre, proteinuria, prolonged bleeding time, prolonged prothrombin time, prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time, prolonged thrombin time and peripheral smear shows plasmacytoid lymphocytes, normocytic normochromic red blood cells and rouleaux formation.
Laboratory Findings
- WM is mostly suspected when a patient has low blood counts and/or high levels of unusual protein levels on blood tests.
- Usually after that, a blood test called serum protein electrophoresis is ordered to find out what type of protein is there.
- Mostly, only after these tests are done that a biopsy of either the bone marrow or a lymph node is considered to confirm the WM diagnosis.
- Laboratory findings consistent with the diagnosis of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia include:[1]
Complete blood count
- Anemia:
- Seen in 40% of newly diagnosed patients and in 80% of symptomatic patients with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia
- Multi-factorial causes including: decreased RBC synthesis due to bone marrow infiltration, iron deficiency due to gastrointestinal bleeding, and chronic inflammation
- Thrombocytopenia:
- Due to bone marrow infiltration
- Neutropenia:
- Due to bone marrow infiltration
- Lymphocytosis
- Monocytosis
Peripheral smear
Chemistry Lab tests
- Elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH):[2]
- Level indicates the extent of the disease
- Elevated urea and creatinine
- Electrolyte abnormalities
- Elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)
- Elevated uric acid levels
- Positive rheumatoid factor
- Positive cryoglobulins
- Positive direct anti-globulin test
- Positive cold agglutinin titre
- Elevated beta-2-microglobulin in proportion to tumor mass
- Needed to evaluate prognosis
Platelet function test and blood coagulation studies
- Prolonged bleeding time[3]
- Possibly due to interaction between platelet membrane glycoproteins and IgM paraprotein
- Prolonged prothrombin time
- Prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time
- Prolonged thrombin time
- Abnormalities related to fibrinogen levels
Mutational analysis
- MYD88 gene mutation has been found in more than 90% of patients with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia[4]
Cryocrit
- This test measures the blood levels of cryoglobulins (proteins that clump together in cool temperatures and can block blood vessels)
Cold agglutinins
- Cold agglutinins are antibodies that attack and kill red blood cells, especially at cooler temperatures.
- These dead cells can then build up and block blood vessels.
- A blood test can be used to detect these antibodies.
Beta-2 microglobulin (β2M)
- This test measures another protein made by the cancer cells in WM.
- This protein itself doesn’t cause any problems, but it’s a useful indicator of a patient’s prognosis (outlook).
- High levels of β2M are linked with a worse outlook.
Urinanalysis
Hepatitis Serology
- Hepatitis C serology should be obtained for patients with cryoglobulinemia.
- Hepatitis B serology should be obtained for patients whose planned treatment includes rituximab.
Antibody titers in patients with peripheral neuropathy
- Anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein
- Anti-ganglioside M1
- Anti-sulfatide IgM antibodies
References
- ↑ García-Sanz R, Montoto S, Torrequebrada A, de Coca AG, Petit J, Sureda A; et al. (2001). "Waldenström macroglobulinaemia: presenting features and outcome in a series with 217 cases". Br J Haematol. 115 (3): 575–82. PMID 11736938.
- ↑ Katzmann JA, Kyle RA, Benson J, Larson DR, Snyder MR, Lust JA; et al. (2009). "Screening panels for detection of monoclonal gammopathies". Clin Chem. 55 (8): 1517–22. doi:10.1373/clinchem.2009.126664. PMC 3773468. PMID 19520758.
- ↑ Penny R, Castaldi PA, Whitsed HM (1971). "Inflammation and haemostasis in paraproteinaemias". Br J Haematol. 20 (1): 35–44. PMID 4924493.
- ↑ Xu L, Hunter ZR, Yang G, Zhou Y, Cao Y, Liu X; et al. (2013). "MYD88 L265P in Waldenström macroglobulinemia, immunoglobulin M monoclonal gammopathy, and other B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders using conventional and quantitative allele-specific polymerase chain reaction". Blood. 121 (11): 2051–8. doi:10.1182/blood-2012-09-454355. PMC 3596964. PMID 23321251.