[Chronic polyradiculitis with cutaneous and endocrine signs suggesting a plasmocytic dyscrasia to IgA (author's...

A case of chronic disabling sensory-motor polyradiculitis occurring in a female patient and followed up for 18 months is reported. Clinical findings were papilledema, hypertrichosis, abnormal pigmentation of the skin, generalized edema, and spontaneous cutaneous necrosis. The diagnosis of a plasmocytic dyscrasia to IgA Lambda was made at a late stage of the disease. There were no signs of a solitary plasmocytoma or of diffuse myeloma. At autopsy, there were mild lesions in the peripheral nervous system, but no plasmocytic infiltration or amylosis was seen on optical or electron microscopy. This case is similar to other clinical cases reported mainly by Japanese authors.