[Bone manifestations of multiple myeloma in the Ivory Coast. Apropos of 27 cases].

Report on 27 cases of multiple myeloma recorded in 10 years and 24000 in-patients of Treichville University Hospital in Abidjan (Republic of Ivory Coast). The sex-ratio is 70% of males versus 30% of females and the frequency ranges from 25 years to a maximum between 55 and 75 years. First warning symptoms are pains (70%) then fractures (14,1%), biologic disorders (11,1%) and tumors (7,4%). Vertebrae and flat bones are most often affected with a special frequency for skull and jaw. Radiological aspects and biological changes are reviewed; a high blood sedimentation rate, rather common in Africans, has not the same value as in Caucasians.