THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HYPERGLOBULINEMIA. I. DIAGNOSTIC IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

The hospital records of a series of 394 patients with hyperglobulinemia were analyzed. Of these, 268 patients had diseases generally associated with an elevated serum globulin, viz., multiple myeloma, sarcoidosis, collagen disease, liver disease, cancer, chronic pulmonary disease and certain infections, The remaining 126 cases could not be placed in any of the above diagnostic categories and were termed "unclassified." In patients whose serum globulin was 5g/100 ml or higher, over 90% had specific "hyperglobulinemic" diseases; about half had either multiple myeloma, sarcoidosis or collagen disease. In patients with only slightly elevated serum globulin values (3.9-4.2g/100 ml), almost one half were in the "unclassified" category. The incidence of "unclassified" cases decreased in the intermediate ranges (4.2-5g/100 ml) of globulin elevation. Only about 20% of patients with hyperglobulinemia also exhibited hyperproteinemia. The implications of these data are discussed with reference to the use of the albumin-globulin measurement as a diagnostic acid.