Multiple myeloma presenting as hypercalcemic pancreatitis during pregnancy

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Multiple myeloma is typically a disease found in older women and is a rare diagnosis in pregnancy. CASE: A 22-year-old woman, gravida 1 para 0, at 32 3/7 weeks of gestation presented with nausea, vomiting, and rib and back pain. She was hypertensive, anemic, thrombocytopenic, and in acute renal insufficiency, with hypercalcemia and laboratory parameters indicative of pancreatitis. She was admitted to the obstetric intensive care unit with working diagnoses of preeclampsia, pancreatitis, nephrolithiasis, and renal insufficiency. She ultimately was delivered because of declining clinical status, and multiple myeloma eventually was diagnosed as the underlying cause of her myriad of problems. CONCLUSION: Multiple myeloma is unusual during pregnancy. However, in patients with significant and unexplained hypercalcemia, malignancy should remain high on the differential diagnosis. © 2014 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.