[Hypovolaemic shock due to increased capillary permeability (author's transl)]

In a 69-year-old man admitted to hospital for shock with symptoms suggesting acute cor pulmonale, laboratory tests showed low proteinaemia associated with haemoconcentration. Vascular filling led to recovery, but the condition relapsed 6 months later, heralded by weight increase, swelling of the face and profuse swelling; the patient again recovered. On this last occasion, a monoclonal peak of IgG kappa thought to have antibody activity was discovered. These attacks of hypovolaemic shock seem to be due to sudden increases in capillary permeability.