Abstract

The clinical course and pathological features of four cases of Waldenström's macroglobulinaemia are described. One was associated with a localized carcinoma of the bronchus and one with a chromophobe adenoma of the pituitary.

Trypsin digest preparations of the retina were examined in two cases, one with severe retinopathy and the other with no clinical evidence of ocular disease, and the findings are briefly described.

The aetiology of the anaemia is discussed. Haemolysis due to circulating autoantibodies was not demonstrated in any of the cases. Erythrophagocytosis was a prominent feature in case 4, of moderate degree in cases 1 and 2, and inconspicuous in case 3. It was not proportionate to the serum macroglobulin levels.

The cytological and histological features in all four cases are distinctive, and their value in differential diagnosis is stressed.