Iguchi S, Toba K, Fuse I, Wada Y, Maruyama S, Takahashi M, Koike T, Nomoto M, Shibata A, Aizawa Y
First Department of Internal Medicine, Niigata University School of Medicine.
Intern Med. 1996 Sep;35(9):712-6. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.35.712.
A patient with severe type II cryoglobulinemia after ten years of asymptomatic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is reported. Laboratory data showed hypergammaglobulinemia with polyclonal IgG and monoclonal IgM, blood hyperviscosity, high level of cryocrit (60%), HCV viremia, and normal levels of serum transaminases. Due to cold exposure, acrocyanosis and cardiac ischemic attack occurred; he recovered after being artificially warmed. Administration of prednisolone and natural interferon-alpha for three months resulted in significant decreases in the levels of serum IgM and cryocrit.
