Cryoglobulinemia

Treatment

Mayo Clinic's typical strategy is to treat patients with cryoglobulinemia "secondary" to another disease with the preferred treatment for the primary disease. For example, a patient with multiple myeloma and cryoglobulinemia would be treated by a hematologist (a doctor who specializes in blood diseases) using the standard treatment strategies for multiple myeloma. A patient with cryoglobulins secondary to rheumatoid arthritis would be treated by a rheumatologist using the drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

In contrast, in someone with "primary" or "essential" cryoglobulinemia, a Mayo Clinic doctor will look hard for the presence of a hepatitis virus. For those with a hepatitis virus, the medicine called interferon-alpha may be recommended. This medicine has a number of side effects, but it can control hepatitis C and the symptoms of cryoglobulinemia in some patients.

In some cases, the doctor may advise careful monitoring rather than therapy. Alternatively, the doctor may prescribe corticosteroids such as prednisone, anti-inflammatory medicines such as ibuprofen, immunosuppressive medicines, and sometimes low-dose chemotherapy to control the symptoms. If there is a severe illness related to the cryoglobulinemia, the doctor may suggest plasmapheresis. This treatment reduces cryoglobulins by exchanging the blood plasma (which contains much of the cryoglobulins) for someone else's plasma or a replacement fluid.