To the Editor: Various hematologic disorders, including plasma-celldyscrasia,1 are increasingly being diagnosed in patients withhuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Monoclonal gammopathyof undetermined significance (MGUS), generally considered tobe a disease of the elderly, affects up to 3 percent of persons50 years of age or older.2 Nevertheless, the presence of a monoclonalprotein in HIV-positive persons is not a rare event.3 Sincethe standard care for MGUS is regular follow-up and monitoringfor progression, patients in whom MGUS is the initial manifestationof HIV infection could miss out on the benefit of early antiretroviraltherapy, should the . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Aslam, A., Misbah, S. A., Pantanowitz, L., Lu, C. M., Dezube, B. J.
(2003). HIV Infection Masquerading as Monoclonal Gammopathy of Unknown Significance. NEJM
349: 2362-2363
[Full Text]