title: Successful use of cryocrit for monitoring response to therapeutic plasma exchange in type 1 cryoglobulinemia.
abstract: Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (WM) is a clinical syndrome that is defined as lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma with bone marrow involvement and IgM monoclonal gammopathy of any level. In some instances WM can result in a type I cryoglobulinemia with very high cryocrits, which is unusual in type II and III cryoglobulinemia. We describe a case of an 80 year old male with WM, severe type I cryoglobulinemia, and an extremely elevated cryocrit (69%). Over the course of five weeks we performed nine therapeutic plasma exchanges (TPE), and after seven treatments his cryocrit had decreased to 6% with improvement in his symptoms. By monitoring his cryocrit throughout his TPE sessions, we were able to assess his response to treatment, determine the ideal length of treatment in addition to his symptomatic improvement. J. Clin. Apheresis 31:403-404, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Swaroopa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yerrabothala
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Transfusion Medicine, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dunbar
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003449:Cryoglobulinemia / Q000628:therapy*; D003450:Cryoglobulins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010951:Plasma Exchange / Q000379:methods*; D008258:Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia
chemical_list: D003450:Cryoglobulins
keywords: Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia; cryocrit; cryoglobulinemia