Objective To
review the clinical features,diagnostic
work-up,
classification,
prognosis and
treatment of
systemic mastocytosis (SM).
Methods The clinical data of 3 SM
patients admitted to
Peking Union Medical College
Hospital (PUMCH) were retrospectively analyzed and the
review of recent
literatures was performed.Results All the 3 cases were pathologically diagnosed.According to
WHO 2008
classification criteria,2 cases were diagnosed as aggressive SM (ASM) and the other one was diagnosed as indolent SM (ISM).Case 1 was a 60-year-old
female patient who had overt mediator release
syndrome manifesting as episodes of
flushing,
fever,
vomiting,palpitation,
hypotension and
syncope.She was diagnosed as aggressive SM based on significantly increased number of abnormal
mast cells (
accounting for 6% of all nucleated
cells) in the
bone marrow aspiration sample and
biopsy specimen which accompanied with decreased other myeloid and erythroid
elements.
Her disease was refractory to the
treatment of H2
antihistamines and led to a
fatal outcome eventually.Case 2 was a 72-year-old
male patient who underwent extended proximal
gastrectomy with esophagogastric anastomosis due to endoscopically detected diffuse thickening of the gastric fundic
mucosa.The
diagnosis as indolent SM was established according to the dense infiltrate of abnormal
mast cells in the surgically resected part of
stomach and regional
lymph nodes.He had been
in complete remission for more than 6 years ever since then.Case 3 was a 41-year-old
female patient who presented with
fever,
urticaria pigmentosa and diffuse
bone lesions.A
bone biopsy specimen demonstrated a dense infiltrate of
mast cells while the assays for KIT-D816V
mutation and FIP1L1-PDGFRα fusion
gene yielded
negative results.She was diagnosed as aggressive SM and a
progression-free survival of more than 1 year had been achieved with the
treatment of
prednisone,
interferon-α and
pamidronate.Conclusions SM is a
rare disease.
Diagnosis is primarily dependent on histopathology.There is currently no curative
therapy for
systemic mastocytosis.
Treatment is intended to reduce symptoms and improve
quality of life.The
prognosis of ISM is much better than that of ASM.