Acquired von Willebrand disease due to inhibitor of human myeloma protein specific for von Willebrand factor.

A patient with acquired von Willebrand disease associated with multiple myeloma (IgG-lambda) is described. Mixture of his plasma or IgG fraction with washed control platelets resulted in the inhibition of aggregation with ristocetin, but mixture of control plasma or IgG fraction with washed patient platelets showed no inhibition of ristocetin-induced aggregation. Although his vWF: Ag, RCo, and factor VIII coagulant activity were all normal, inactivation of RCo was induced in normal plasma by incubation with patient plasma. Crossed immunoelectrophoretic analysis showed that vWF:Ag was composed of much more anodic component. A marked increase of Factor VIII and a rapid return of RCo to the baseline after 1-deamino-8-arginine vasopressin (DDAVP) infusion were observed. A transient increase in vWF:Ag after the infusion of DDAVP showed with less anodic forms and in the relative proportion as in normal. Treatment of the underlying disease also led to a correction of the bleeding time, improvement of platelet adhesion and ristocetin-induced aggregation, and normalization of crossed immunoelectrophoresis of vWF:Ag. The present study showed that myeloma-associated IgG interacted specifically with the antigenic sites on the von Willebrand portion of the Factor VIII complex.