Renal status of multiple myeloma patients in ibadan, Nigeria

The spectrum of clinical manifestation in multiple myeloma (MM) ranges from asymptomatic disease to severely debilitative state. Unexplained renal disease is an indication for the investigation of patients for MM. This study is a retrospective analysis of the renal profile of patients with multiple myeloma in relation to management strategy in our institution.

Medical records of 64 patients with multiple myeloma seen between 2000 and 2008 were retrospectively reviewed at an 850-bed tertiary hospital in South-Western Nigeria. The Mahn-Whitney test was used to compare laboratory features between patient with renal failure and those without renal failure. Subjects with serum creatinine ≥2mg/dL were regarded to have renal failure. Overall survival was calculated from diagnosis to death or lost to follow-up.

A total of forty three patients were eligible. The renal status was categorized into three according to serum creatinine level; those with normal serum creatinine level (0.5-1.5mg/dl) were 26 (60.5%), serum creatinine level (>1.6-1.9mg/dl), and creatinine level ≥2mg/ dl were 3(7%) and 14(32.5%) respectively. Hyperuricaemia was observed in 6(42.9%) of MM patients with renal failure compared with 7(26.9%) of patient without renal failure (p<0.05). Twenty-one percent of those with renal failure had hypercalceamia. Thirty-six percent of the renal failure patients had haemodialysis. The average survival for all patients with renal failure was 18 months after diagnosis.

The outcome in patients with renal failure remained poor with early mortality despite supportive management. Hyperuricaemia and dehydration, given the hot climate might have worked in concert with other factors to worsen the renal status in these patients.