Descriptive cross-sectional study assessing the clinical and paraclinic profiles of monoclonal gammopathies in an agricultural region of Souss-Massa, Morocco

Abstract

Introduction: given the lack of information about monoclonal gammopathies, our primary study outcome was to describe the epidemiological, clinical and biochemical profiles of monoclonal gammopathies in the Souss-Massa region, in southern Morocco. Methods: we conducted a retrospective study, by selecting only complete medical records. We used records of patients diagnosed with monoclonal gammopathy at the local oncology center during a period of over 10 years. Results: one hundred and seventeen patients were included in the study, with a high male predominance (65%) and a male/female sex-ratio of 1.85. The average age of our study population was 61.44 (ET 14.54) years. Diagnoses (based on frequency) included: multiple myeloma 82.0% (n=96), solitary plasmacytoma 8.5% (n=10), monoclonal gammopathies of undetermined significance 2.6% (n=3), lymphoma 2.5% (n=3), secondary plasma cell leukaemia 1.7% (n=2), Waldenström´s disease 1.7%(n=2) and chronic lymphoid leukemia (n=1). The isotype distribution was as follows: IgG Kappa 33.7% (n=28), IgG lambda 21.7% (n=18), IgA Kappa 12.0% (n=10), IgA lambda 7.2% (n=6), IgM kappa 3.6% (n=3), and IgD lambda 2.4% (n=2). Biconal peak was reached in two cases, with a percentage of 2.4%. Conclusion: diagnostic delay was observed compared to international studies due to the unavailability of electrophoresis in the care structures.