Survival of patients with multiple myeloma diagnosed at the national center of hematology in Baghdad

Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a monoclonal malignant proliferation of plasma cells derived from a single clone. Due to the variety of organ dysfunction caused by this malignant disease with no curative therapy, hence survival becomes a challenge for this group of patients. The aim of this study was to analyze the epidemiology and survival of patients with MM attended the out-patient clinic of the national center of hematology in Baghdad/Iraq. A retrospective study conducted at the national center of hematology, from September 2009 to November 2013 in which the medical records of 46 patients with MM have been reviewed. Survival analysis was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression analysis. The mean age was 63.4 years, and 54.2% of patients studied were female. The most common clinical manifestations were anemia (93.4%), bone pain (86.9%), and renal impairment (39.1%). In survival analysis, the only variable that achieved statistical significance was renal impairment (p = 0.025). For mortality, renal impairment (p = 0.017) and coagulation abnormalities (p = 0.012) were significant in the Cox regression. In conclusion the epidemiological profile showed a slight predominance in females. Anemia and bone pain were the most frequent complaints. Renal impairment and coagulation abnormalities were associated with mortality for patients with multiple myeloma.