RESUMO
To determine the incidence and pattern of presentation of patients with multiple myeloma [MM] in a tertiary health center in Edo state, Niger Delta region of Nigeria noted for its petrochemical industries and gas flare sites. A retrospective study of 30 cases of MM from 1992 to 2004. University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Clinicoimmunologic information in addition to autopsy findings was obtained from case-files. Diagnosis was established according to the standard definition and staged according to the Durie-Salmon clinical staging system. Advanced stages of the disease [II-III] and performance status scale of 2-4 with pathological fractures were the main form of presentation. Overall median survival was three months [P<0.0001] with 33.3% of the patients surviving at 12 months and 13.3% at 24 months. Bone pains and anaemia with pathological fractures were the commonest characteristic features with a short three months median survival rate