Introduction.
Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a neoplastic disorder due to the proliferation
of clonal plasma cells that account for the 15% of the hematological
neoplastic tumors1,2. The symptomatic phase of this
neoplasm is characterized by the presence of one or more of the
following signs and/or symptoms: anemia (hemoglobin psitroalue of
< 2 g/dl below the lowest limit of normal, or a hemoglobin
value < 100 g/L), hypercalcemia (serum calcium >1
mg/dL higher than the upper limit of normal or > 11 mg/dL),
renal failure (creatinine cleareance < 40 mL per min or serum
creatinine > 2mg/dL) and bone lesions (one or more
osteolytic lesions on skeletal radiography, Computer Tomography (CT), or
Positron Emission Tomography-CT (PET-CT). This cohort of signs and
symptoms is historically defined with the acronym of
CRAB3. However, particularly in the elderly patients,
these clinical manifestations are very frequent and could be caused by
other diseases than MM. The concomitant presence of other pathologic
conditions could led to a misdiagnosis with dramatic consequences for
the patients. Here we present the case of an adult Italian patient with
signs and symptoms coherent with suspicion of MM.