Plasmacytoma: Complications

The following are the most important diseases or complications that may be contributed to by a plasmacytoma:

Blood, blood-forming organs – Immune system (D50-D90).

  • Antibody deficiency syndrome with increased tendency to infection.
  • Hemorrhagic diathesis – blood clotting disorder with increased bleeding tendency.
  • Pancytopenia (synonym: tricytopenia) – reduction of all three cell series in the blood.

Endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (E00-E90).

  • Hypercalcemia (tumor-induced hypercalcemia/calcium excess (TIH)) – serum calcium > 3.5 mmol/l = hypercalcemic crisis: polyuria (increased urination), desiccosis (dehydration), hyperpyrexia (extreme fever: higher than 41 °C), cardiac arrhythmias, weakness and lethargy, and somnolence to coma
  • Hyperuricemia (increase in uric acid levels in the blood).

Cardiovascular system (I00-I99)

Infectious and parasitic diseases (A00-B99).

  • Sepsis (blood poisoning)

Musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (M00-M99).

Psyche – nervous system (F00-F99; G00-G99)

Genitourinary system (kidneys, urinary tract – sex organs) (N00-N99).

  • Nephrotic syndrome – collective term for symptoms occurring in various diseases of the glomerulus (renal corpuscles); proteinuria (increased excretion of protein in the urine) with protein loss of more than 1 g/m² KOF/d; hypoproteinemia, peripheral edema due to hypalbuminemia of < 2.5 g/dl in serum; hyperliporpotemia (lipid metabolism disorder).
  • Plasmacytoma kidney – progressive renal damage occurs in about one-third of patients; about 10% become dialysis-dependent
  • Priapism – erection lasting > 4 h without sexual stimulation; 95% of cases ischemic or low-flow priapism (LFP), which is very painful; LFP can lead to irreversible erectile dysfunction after only 4 h; therapy: blood aspiration and possibly intracavernosal (i.c.) sympathomimetic injection; “high-flow” priapism (HFP) requires no immediate measures

Symptoms and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings not elsewhere classified (R00-R99).

  • Hyperviscosity syndrome (HVS)-symptoms such as headache, visual disturbances, fatigue, due to increased blood viscosity; furthermore, heart failure (cardiac insufficiency), cerebral circulatory disturbances, and mucosal hemorrhage

Injuries, poisoning, and other sequelae of external causes (S00-T98).

  • Fractures (broken bones)