Korean J Med.  2011 Aug;81(2):245-250.

A Case of POEMS Syndrome that Presented with a Moderate Pericardial Effusion

• Oh CM
• Bang WD
• Lee S
• Cho SS
• Noh S
• Kim JS
• Chang HJ

Abstract

Pericardial effusions can be caused by a wide variety of infectious or noninfectious diseases. After a conventional diagnostic work-up, the etiology of pericardial effusion often remains idiopathic. We report a patient with POEMS syndrome whose main clinical problem was recurrent pericardial effusions. Patients with POEMS syndrome often have generalized edema and a pleural effusion, while a pericardial effusion is a very rare complication. A 44-year-old man visited our hospital because of a recurrent pericardial effusion. He was initially diagnosed with idiopathic pericarditis five months prior. We reassessed the patient meticulously and found IgG lambda type monoclonal gammopathy, polyneuropathy, lymphadenopathy, peripheral edema, pleural effusion, hypothyroidism, pulmonary hypertension, hyperpigmentation, hypertrichosis, and papilledema, which we diagnosed as POEMS syndrome.

Keyword

Idiopathic pericarditis; Pericardial effusion; POEMS syndrome

MeSH Terms

Adult
Edema
Humans
Hyperpigmentation
Hypertension, Pulmonary
Hypertrichosis
Hypothyroidism
Immunoglobulin G
Lymphatic Diseases
Papilledema
Paraproteinemias
Pericardial Effusion
Pericarditis
Pleural Effusion
POEMS Syndrome
Polyneuropathies
Immunoglobulin G