[Critical review of 243 monoclonal immunoglobulinopathies]

243 cases of monoclonal immunoglobulinopathy were seen at the CHR in Rennes over a period of three years. The authors studied successively the relationship between the monoclonal immunoglobulin and the clinical diagnosis the distribution of the monoclonal compounds according to the heavy chain class and the identification of the light chains, the distribution of the immunoglobulinopathies in terms of the age and the sex of the patients and the correlation between the clinical diagnosis and various laboratory findings (proteins concentration, concentration of normal immunoglobulins, sedimentation rate...). The results obtained are in line with the principal data in the literature concerning monoclonal immunoglobulinopathies. However, the authors demonstrated, in the studied population, a higher percentage of monoclonal IgM than is usually reported. Furthermore, these IgM immunoglobulins, present in Waldenstrom's disease and frequently seen in various other immunoglobulinopathies, were essentially found in men.