HYPERPROTEINEMIA ASSOCIATED WITH MULTIPLE MYELOMAS

Abstract

The literature contains very few references to hyperproteinemia. In an extensive series of studies on the concentration of plasma proteins in disease, the highest figure found by Rowe¹was 10.4 per cent in an undiagnosed case of enlarged inguinal glands. Incidentally, the only case of myeloma (of the spinal cord) studied by Rowe showed a normal concentration of plasma proteins, 6.8 per cent, and a normal albumin: globulin ratio of 70: 30. Higher protein figures are reported by Loeper, Forestier and Tonnet²in cancer, especially in cases of large tumors of the kidneys; in one such case 11 per cent of serum proteins were found. In Wu's³study of the plasma proteins in kala-azar, the highest figure reported is 10.5 per cent, with an albumin: globulin ratio of 32:68. In this case, as in the other cases of kala-azar, the globulin is greatly increased and reaches a