title: POEMS syndrome revealed by multiple glomeruloid angiomas.
abstract: POEMS syndrome (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, skin disorders) is a rare multisystemic disease associated with plasma cell dyscrasia. A 68-year-old woman with chronic renal insufficiency and arterial hypertension included in her medical history was admitted to the hospital with confusion, somnolence and asthenia. She presented ascites, hepatosplenomegaly, leg oedema, distal dysesthesias, leuconychia and multiple nodular purple red angiomas on the trunk, upper limbs and fingers. Hypothyroidism was revealed in the laboratory investigations and monoclonal IgG peak in immunoelectrophoresis. Electromyography showed both demyelinisating and axonal degenerative neuropathy. The diagnosis of POEMS syndrome was based on the dermatopathological examination of a cutaneous angioma; histology revealed features of glomeruloid angioma, a specific marker of this syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, CHU Saint-Pierre and CHU Brugmann, Brussels, Belgium. christel_email@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Christel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scheers
authors.forename: Athanassios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolivras
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corbisier
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gheeraert
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Renoirte
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Theunis
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: de Saint-Aubain
authors.forename: Josette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: André
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sass
authors.forename: Micheline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D016878:POEMS Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*