Cryoglobulinemia is the presence of circulating cryoglobulin which can cause systemic vasculitis and glomerulonephritis. Monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance is strongly associated with type I cryoglobulinemia, but the role of detectable serum monoclonal gammopathy in mixed (type II) cryoglobulinemia is not clearly established. We report a case of a 71-year-old woman who presented with skin rash, leg edema, and azotemia. Investigations showed a positive result for rheumatoid factor, low complement C4 level, positive result for serum cryoglobulin, and positive M-spike on serum protein electrophoresis and IgM kappa monoclonal gammopathy on serum immunofixation. Kidney biopsy revealed membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, polytypic IgM-dominant deposits in an immunofluorescence study, and microtubular substructures in an electron microscopic study. After an extensive workup, no evidence of myeloma or lymphoma was found. A diagnosis of monoclonal gammopathy of renal significance–associated mixed cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis was made. Due to the detectable IgM kappa monoclonal gammopathy in the patient’s serum, clonal-directed therapy was administered. The patient had been in clinical remission after treatment with clone-directed therapy with cyclophosphamide and steroids. The literature review for cases of type II cryoglobulinemic glomerulonephritis that have detectable serum monoclonal gammopathy are summarized in this study.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.