A case of central nervous system myelomatosis with complex chromosome aberrations

Abstract

Involvement of the central nervous system is very uncommon in multiple myeloma, observed in approximately 1% of the multiple myeloma patients. We report a case of central nervous system myelomatosis with complex chromosome aberrations in a 62-yr-old female patient, who had previously been diagnosed as multiple myeloma. Fluorescent in situ hybridization revealed 13q deletion, p53 gene deletion and IGH/FGFR3 rearrangement and chromosomal study showed complex chromosome aberrations. After four cycles of chemotherapy, the patient was admitted to the hematology department with severe headache. Plasma cells were found in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and CSF immunoelectrophoresis revealed abnormal precipitin arcs against anti-IgG and anti-lambda antisera. She was given systemic chemotherapy and eight courses of intrathecal chemotherapy, which cleared plasma cells in the CSF. Two months later, she was given autologous stem cell transplantation. Three months after stem cell transplantation, central nervous system myelomatosis progressed to plasma cell leukemia and two months later, the patient expired.