Internal medicine
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TAFRO syndrome is a systemic inflammatory, lymphoproliferative disorder, but the pathophysiology of the disease is unknown. It is typically characterized by thrombocytopenia, anasarca, a fever, reticulin fibrosis, renal dysfunction, and organomegaly. ⋯ He achieved complete remission with combination therapy of corticosteroids, tocilizumab, and cyclosporin, and remission was maintained even after drug discontinuation at 15 months. Atypical manifestations and complete remission of TAFRO syndrome were remarkable features of our case.
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Objective Sarcopenia and osteoporosis often coexist in older adults. Sarcopenia is diagnosed using the skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), which is calculated as the appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM)/(present height)2, although patients with osteoporosis frequently have a loss of body height. We therefore investigated whether the present height or maximum height is more useful for calculating the SMI in the evaluation of physical abilities. ⋯ Results Age and body mass index (BMI)-adjusted regression analyses showed that the SMI (β=0.30, p<0.001 and β=0.14, p=0.034) and mSMI (β=0.40, p<0.001 and β=0.29, p<0.001) were positively associated while the ΔSMI was negatively associated with the grip strength and gait speed (β=-0.15, p<0.001 and β=-0.24, p<0.001, respectively). Furthermore, the age, BMI, and presence of osteoporotic fractures-adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that a low mSMI (<5.4 kg/m2) was significantly associated with a low grip strength (<18 kg) and slow gait speed (1.0 m/s) [odds ratio (OR) =2.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) =1.52-3.95 per SD increase, p<0.001; and OR=1.73, 95% CI=1.01-2.96, p=0.042, respectively], although a low SMI showed no such relationship (p=0.052 and p=0.813, respectively). Conclusion The mSMI using the maximum height is more useful for evaluating physical abilities than conventional SMI estimation in postmenopausal women.
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Malignant lymphoma is rarely complicated by secondary IgA nephropathy. We encountered a 74-year-old man with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis due to IgA nephropathy with predominant deposition of IgA2, instead of IgA1, in the glomerulus that was eventually diagnosed as secondary IgA nephropathy due to mantle cell lymphoma. ⋯ IgA came from the colonic mucosa that was stimulated by the infiltrated lymphoma cells, instead of the tumor itself. We should consider mantle cell lymphoma as a cause of secondary IgA nephropathy, although its prevalence may not be very high.