Skip to main content

CASE REPORT article

Front. Med.

Sec. Pulmonary Medicine

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1551600

Case Report: Pulmonary and Gastrointestinal Involvement in a Rare Case of Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia in French Guiana

Provisionally accepted
Houari Aissaoui Houari Aissaoui 1,2*Dana Gaudard Dana Gaudard 1,3Ghazi Hadjamara Ghazi Hadjamara 1,4Alolia Aboikoni Alolia Aboikoni 1,2Yanna Lingibe Yanna Lingibe 1,2Dominique Louvel Dominique Louvel 1,2
  • 1 Centre Hospitalier Andrée Rosemon, Cayenne, French Guiana
  • 2 Department of Medicine B, Cayenne, French Guiana
  • 3 Department of Internal medicine, Cayenne, French Guiana
  • 4 Department of Pathology, Cayenne, French Guiana

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (WM) is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by the proliferation of lymphoplasmacytic cells producing monoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM). Extra-hematopoietic involvement, although rare, can affect the gastrointestinal tract in approximately 4% of cases and the lungs in 3-5% of cases. This case highlights the diversity of extramedullary manifestations in WM and underscores the importance of performing pulmonary and gastrointestinal endoscopies with systematic biopsies for optimal disease management. Case Presentation: We report the case of a 60-year-old Haitian man diagnosed with WM in January 2023 following an episode of acute respiratory failure. Biopsies revealed lymphoplasmacytic infiltration in both the bronchial and gastrointestinal mucosa. Biopsies revealed lymphoplasmacytic infiltration in both the bronchial and gastrointestinal mucosa, despite normal macroscopic findings during gastrointestinal endoscopy. Conclusion: This case emphasizes the importance of systematic biopsies during endoscopic examinations, even in the absence of visible lesions, to detect lymphoplasmacytic infiltration in WM. These findings could help in changing the approach to disease management and improving patient outcomes.

    Keywords: Waldenström's macroglobulinemia, pulmonary and digestive endoscopy, Extra-hematopoietic involvement, Lymphoplasmacytic infiltration, Systematic biopsies

    Received: 26 Dec 2024; Accepted: 28 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Aissaoui, Gaudard, Hadjamara, Aboikoni, Lingibe and Louvel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Houari Aissaoui, Centre Hospitalier Andrée Rosemon, Cayenne, French Guiana

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

    Research integrity at Frontiers

    Man ultramarathon runner in the mountains he trains at sunset

    95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good

    Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.


    Find out more