An Autopsy Case of Crow-Fukase Syndrome which Developed 18 Years after the First Manifestation of Plasmacytoma

Abstract

A 57-yr-old woman developed Crow-Fukase syndrome 18 yr after resection of plasmacytoma of the rib. Irradiation applied to the relapsed plasmacytoma and systemic chemotherapy alleviated symptoms and signs, but the tumor relapsed in the unirradiated cervical lymph node and she died of Pseudomonas pneumonia during chemotherapy 3 yr after diagnosis. Biopsy of the lymph node revealed proliferation of lgG-λ-positive atypical plasma cells while autopsy revealed plasmacytoma remnant in the pleura of the affected side 21 yr before. No amyloid was found on autopsy. Crow-Fukase syndrome can develop long after the origination of plasmacytoma.
(Internal Medicine 31 : 50-54, 1992)