POEMS Syndrome: A Review of Our Patient Population

Introduction

The "POEMS" Syndrome, defined by its hallmark features of polyneuropathy, organomagaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal plasma cell proliferative disorder, and skin changes has long been an enigma in terms of diagnosis and treatment. In recent years, clinicians and researchers have attempted to clarify diagnostic criteria. It is known that "VEGF," vascular endothelial growth factor, plays a large role in the pathophysiology of this disease.¹Most recently, Angela Dispenzieri proposed a set of diagnostic criteria, which were published in the American Journal of Hematology.²We applied this suggested diagnostic criteria retrospectively to patients in our institution who carried a diagnosis of POEMS Syndrome. Additionally, we recorded the VEGF of these patients and their outcomes.

Methods

The.medical record was queried for patients with POEMS diagnosed in the last 5 years. A total of 16 patients met criteria. The primary outcome was to determine the percentage of patients who met the criteria proposed by Dispenzieri. A secondary outcome was to determine, in those patients who did not meet the criteria, the reason that they were not met. Another secondary outcome was to determine the percentage of patients who were alive or deceased. The criteria proposed by Dispenzieri (Table 1) were applied to each patient to assess whether they were met. If the diagnostic criteria were not met, the reason as to why they were not was recorded. Each patient outcome of "alive," "deceased," or "unknown" was recorded.

Results

Of the 16 patients analyzed, 14 (88%) had enough information to be included. Of these 14 patients, nine (64%) met the criteria proposed by Dispenzieri. Of the five patients that did not meet the criteria, four (80%) did not meet them due to the lack of a presence of a major criteria. One patient of the five (20%) that did not meet the criteria did not have the mandatory finding of polyneuropathy.

VEGF levels ranged from 26-9504pg/mL, with an average of 1190pg/mL. The range for the patients who met the diagnostic criteria proposed by Dispenzieri was 1755pg/mL.

Of our total patient population analyzed, 10 out of 14 patients (72%) were alive at time of retrospective review, including six out of nine (66%) that met the diagnostic criteria. Two out of 14 patients (14%) were found on review to be deceased, including one out of the nine (11%) that met the diagnostic criteria. Two out of 14 patients (14%) were determined to be "unknown" if alive or deceased, both of whom met the diagnostic criteria.

Discussion

Patients with POEMS syndrome often experience a delay in diagnosis due to the rarity of the disease as well as a lack of high index of suspicion for the condition in many cases. Additionally, POEMS syndrome is often mislabeled as another neuropathic condition. Efforts have been made to establish a standard criteria for diagnosis. We applied the criteria proposed by Dispenzieri this year in the American Journal of Hematology. In our retrospective study, we found that that 64% of our patients who carried a diagnosis of POEMS syndrome met the criteria for POEMS diagnosis using these proposed criteria. We found that the most common reason for not meeting the criteria in our patient population was the lack of a major criterion. Major criteria (Table 1) include Castleman Disease, sclerotic bone lesions and VEGF elevation, one of which must be met to receive a diagnosis of POEMS syndrome. Additionally, one of our patients did not meet the criteria due to the lack of the mandatory finding of polyneuropathy. The average VEGF levels in our patients were 1190pg/mL, but were higher at 1755pg/mL in the cohort who met the diagnostic criteria. 72% of our total patients were alive at time of review, including 66% of the patients who met the diagnostic criteria.

We conclude that the criteria proposed by Dispenzieri provide a concise guideline to identify patients with POEMS syndrome. These criteria are simple to apply, and would potentially help to increase the index of suspicion and earlier diagnosis of patients with POEMS syndrome. This would be expected to lead to earlier initiation of therapy. Additionally, this analysis supports previous studies that show that VEGF levels are correlated with disease activity and that overall prognosis for patients with POEMS syndrome is favorable.

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