Complications commonly requiring this intervention include: hyperviscosity disease with severe symptoms of neurological (e.g., stroke, mental impairment, and myelitis) and/or cardiovascular (e.g., congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction) disturbances; vasculitis-driven intestinal ischemia, intestinal perforation, cholecystitis, or pancreatitis, causing acute abdominal pain, general malaise, fever, and/or bloody bowel movements; vasculitis-driven pulmonary disturbances (e.g., coughing up blood, acute respiratory failure, X-ray evidence of diffuse pulmonary infiltrates caused by diffuse alveolar hemorrhage); and severe kidney dysfunction due to intravascular deposition of immunoglobulins or vasculitis. Along with this urgent treatment, severely symptomatic patients are commonly started on therapy to treat any underlying disease; this treatment is often supplemented with anti-inflammatory drugs such as corticosteroids (e.g., dexamethasone) and/or immunosuppressive drugs. Cases where no underlying disease is known are also often treated with the latter corticosteroid and immunosuppressive medications. Type I cryoglobulinemic disease
Treatment of Type I disease is generally directed towards treating the underlying pre-malignant or malignant disorder (see plasma cell dyscrasia, Waldenströms macroglobulinemia, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia). This involves appropriate chemotherapy regimens which may include bortezomib (promotes cell death by apoptosis in cells accumulating immunoglobulins) in patients with monoclonal immunoglobulin-induced kidney failure and rituximab (antibody directed against CD20 surface antigen-bearing lymphocytes) in patients with Waldenstroms macroglobulonemia). Type II and III cryoglobulinemic disease
Treatment of mixed cryoglobulinemic disease is, similar to type I disease, directed toward treating any underlying disorder. This includes malignant (particularly Waldenströms macroglobulinemia in type II disease), infectious, or autoimmune diseases in type II and III disease.
Usually the enzyme produced is responsible for cholesterol ester formation and high density lipoprotein (HDL) metabolism, but in fish-eye disease the enzyme cannot esterify, or make the acid into an alkyl, cholesterol in HDL particles. However, there is only a partial deficiency because the enzyme remains active on the cholesterol particles in very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and low density lipoproteins (LDL). The opaqueness of the eye is caused by the deposit of lipids onto the cornea. Diagnosis
Definitive diagnosis requires LCAT gene analysis for mutation and functional activity. However, numerous lab tests may help with making a diagnosis such as complete blood count (CBC), urinalysis, blood chemistries, lipid panels, and plasma LCAT activity.Fish-eye disease is characterized by abnormalities like visual impairment, plaques of fatty material, and dense opacification. Types
Both the familial type and Fish-eye disease are autosomal recessive disorders caused by mutations of the LCAT gene located on chromosome 16q22.1, which is the long (q) arm of chromosome 16 a position 22.1. Both diseases are very rare with ~70 reported cases of familial LCAT deficiency and ~30 cases of fish-eye disease.