Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension in POEMS Syndrome with Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation

Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension in POEMS Syndrome with Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation

Author Info

Corresponding Author
Jean M. Elwing
Department of Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

A B S T R A C T

POEMS, a rare paraneoplastic syndrome, can cause pulmonary hypertension (PH). PH, diagnosed through echocardiogram in patients with POEMS, is known to improve after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). However, similar accounts of PH, diagnosed through right heart catheterization (RHC), the gold standard diagnostic test for PH, do not exist. We report the case of a 65-year-old female who presented with dyspnea and burning pain in feet. Physical examination was unremarkable, while basic investigations revealed an elevated protein-albumin gap. This prompted further tests that led to the diagnosis of POEMS syndrome. Echocardiogram was additionally obtained and raised concern for PH. RHC was hence performed and confirmed the diagnosis of PH secondary to POEMS syndrome. The patient was treated with ASCT following which her dyspnea got better and repeated RHC revealed improved hemodynamics. This report highlights the first case of PH secondary to POEMS syndrome, which demonstrated improvement in hemodynamics, measured by RHC, following ASCT.

Article Info

Article Type
Case Report
Publication history
Received: Wed 05, Aug 2020
Accepted: Wed 26, Aug 2020
Published: Mon 31, Aug 2020
Copyright
© 2023 Jean M. Elwing. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.JICOA.2020.04.18