Macroglobulinemia Waldenström and motor neuron syndrome

One patient suffering from macroglobulinemia Waldenström developed a neurological disease which may be a previously unrecognized paramalignant phenomenon in this disorder. The clinical symptoms and signs indicate a motor neuron syndrome and autopsy revealed degeneration of ventral and lateral funicles in the spinal cord, loss of ventral motor neurons, degeneration of ventral nerve roots and muscular atrophy. The rather low incidence of macroglobulinemia and motor neuron disease suggest some causal relationship rather than a sporadic occurrence of two disorders in the same patient.