Schnitzler syndrome is a very rare immunological disease. Presenting signs and symptoms are an urticarial rash, intermittent fevers, myalgia, arthralgia, bone pain, lymphadenopathy, and peripheral neuropathy. Monoclonal IgM gammopathy is the main pathological feature that leads to symptoms while a chronic relapsing course is usually observed. The diagnosis rests on clinical criteria, a thorough laboratory assessment (frequently showing anemia and neutrophilia, along with abundant IgM levels), and a biopsy of the skin that confirms the presence of a neutrophilic infiltrate.
Presentation
Schnitzler syndrome is a very rare autoinflammatory disease that seems to arise from an IgM monoclonal gammopathy [1] [2] [3] [4]. The pathogenesis still remains incompletely understood, but the clinical presentation has been well-documented in the literature. The cardinal feature of patients suffering from Schnitzler syndrome is a chronic urticarial rash [1] [2] [3]. Urticaria is the presenting manifestation in many individuals and appears years before other notable symptoms and signs of Schnitzler syndrome [3] [4] [5] [6]:
- Fever - A chronic course of fever that possesses an intermittent pattern is seen in 75% of patients [1] [3] [6] [7]. Fever often accompanies the onset of urticaria, while some cases have been described in whom the rash appeared after fever [1] [2].
- Pain - Myalgia, arthralgia, and bone pain are frequent manifestations seen in this syndrome, together with fatigue [1] [3] [4].
- Peripheral neuropathy - From 7%-56% of individuals suffer from peripheral neuropathy according to different studies [1] [3].
- Night sweats, weight loss, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly are less commonly encountered [1] [2] [7].
Lymphadenopathy is also an important sign, being present in more than 40% of cases [1]. The clinical course of Schnitzler syndrome is often described as several-years long before the diagnosis is made [1] [6]. It is important to mention that similarly to other monoclonal gammopathies, a significant risk exists toward the development of a lymphoproliferative disorder, such as IgM myeloma or marginal B-cell lymphoma [1] [6].
Entire Body System
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Fever
Fever often accompanies the onset of urticaria, while some cases have been described in whom the rash appeared after fever. Pain - Myalgia, arthralgia, and bone pain are frequent manifestations seen in this syndrome, together with fatigue. [symptoma.com]
In approximately 90% of patients Relapsing arthralgias: Concurrent with fever; reported in 80% of patients Bone pain: Concurrent with fever; reported in 70% of patients Myalgias: Concurrent with fever Lymphadenopathy Hepatomegaly Splenomegaly Fatigue [emedicine.com]
Clinical Commissioning Policy: Anakinra to treat periodic fevers and autoinflammatory disorders (all ages) (PDF). p. 18. Retrieved 11 July 2018. de Koning HD, Bodar EJ, van der Meer JW, Simon A (December 2007). [en.wikipedia.org]
It is characterized by the presentation of a monoclonal band, especially IgM, as well as fever, asthenia and arthralgia. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
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Weight Loss
We describe here a 48-year-old woman with a monoclonal IgM gammopathy and a 3-year history of chronic pruritic urticarial dermatosis, unexplained fevers, chronic polyarthritis, lymphadenopathy, leukocytosis, hepatomegaly, and weight loss. [jhu.pure.elsevier.com]
Night sweats, weight loss, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly are less commonly encountered. Lymphadenopathy is also an important sign, being present in more than 40% of cases. [symptoma.com]
loss Angioedema: Very rare The urticarial rash is characterized as follows: Pale-rose, slightly elevated papules and plaques Individual lesions are 0.5-3 cm in diameter New lesions appear daily Lesions last 12-24 hours and then disappear without sequelae [emedicine.com]
Respiratoric
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Pharyngeal Edema
We present the case of a 48-year-old man with 5 years of recurrent urticarial lesions, slight itching, as well as lip, face and occasional pharyngeal edema. The patient had also suffered from fever and right hip and left knee arthralgia. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Eyes
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Eye Pain
Pain. 61 Sadig RR...Fraser CL 30794479 2019 18 Neutrophilic urticarial dermatosis: A review. 61 Gusdorf L...Lipsker D 30224079 2018 19 [Diagnosis and treatment of Schnitzler syndrome]. 61 Zhang XR...Fang MY 30612413 2018 20 [Schnitzler syndrome]. 61 [malacards.org]
Fraser, The First Case Report of Schnitzler Syndrome Presenting with Eye Pain, Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 10.1080/09273948.2018.1563704, (1-3), (2019). F. F. Gellrich and C. [doi.org]
Skin
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Urticaria
From Wikidata Jump to navigation Jump to search Human disease Schnitzler syndrome (disorder) Chronic urticaria with macroglobulinemia Chronic urticaria with gammopathy Chronic urticaria with gammapathy edit English Schnitzler syndrome Human disease Schnitzler [wikidata.org]
Her urticaria was triggered by cooler temperatures and an ice cube test for cold induced urticaria was positive. In spite of aggressive therapies this patient remains symptomatic. [doi.org]
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Night Sweats
Night sweats, weight loss, hepatomegaly, and splenomegaly are less commonly encountered. Lymphadenopathy is also an important sign, being present in more than 40% of cases. [symptoma.com]
A 63-year-old man reported having night sweats and fatigue but had no arthralgia or arthritis. [mdedge.com]
The fever may be accompanied by chills and night sweating. Organomegaly Organomegaly refers to enlarged internal organs, i.e., large lymph nodes ( lymphadenopathy ) in 40% of patients, and enlarged liver and spleen (hepatosplenomagaly) in 30%. [dermnetnz.org]
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Red Skin Lesion
Patients describe red skin lesions covering the trunk and extremities, sparing head, neck, palms and soles. Individual lesions persist less than 24 to 48 h. [doi.org]
Musculoskeletal
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Bone Pain
Often, the areas of hyperostosis coincide with areas of symptomatic bone pain, such as the iliac bone, tibia, femur, and vertebral column. See Workup for more detail. [emedicine.com]
Schnitzler syndrome encompasses monoclonal gammopathy, urticaria, inflammation, recurrent fever, bone pain and arthralgia, with occasional lymphadenopathy and/or hepatosplenomegaly. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Main observations: A 43-year-old woman presented to an allergy and immunology clinic with a 7 year history of chronic urticaria, angioedema with anaphylaxis, monoclonal gammopathy and bone pain. [doi.org]
Schnitzler syndrome or Schnitzler's syndrome is a rare disease characterised by onset around middle age of chronic hives (urticaria) and periodic fever, bone pain and joint pain (sometimes with joint inflammation ), weight loss, malaise, fatigue, swollen [en.wikipedia.org]
Schnitzler syndrome - tense, generalized chronic urticaria, joint or bone pain, and monoclonal gammopathy of kappa type. [medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com]
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Arthralgia
It is characterized by the presentation of a monoclonal band, especially IgM, as well as fever, asthenia and arthralgia. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Schnitzler syndrome is an autoinflammatory disease characterized by chronic, nonpruritic urticaria in association with recurrent fever, bone pain, arthralgia or arthritis, and a monoclonal gammopathy, most often of the immunoglobulin M (IgM) subtype. [emedicine.com]
Schnitzler syndrome with cold-induced urticaria Abstract Background: Schnitzler syndrome encompasses monoclonal gammopathy, urticaria, inflammation, recurrent fever, bone pain and arthralgia, with occasional lymphadenopathy and/or hepatosplenomegaly. [doi.org]
Presenting signs and symptoms are an urticarial rash, intermittent fevers, myalgia, arthralgia, bone pain, lymphadenopathy, and peripheral neuropathy. [symptoma.com]
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Episodic Arthralgia
BACKGROUND: Schnitzler syndrome (SchS) is a rare disease with suspected autoinflammatory background that shares several clinical symptoms, including urticarial rash, fever episodes, arthralgia, and bone and muscle pain with cryopyrin-associated periodic [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Face, Head & Neck
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Pierre Robin Syndrome
Robin syndrome ピエール ロバン症候群 Pirquet ピルケー Pirquet reaction ピルケー反応 Plummer プラマー Plummer's disease プラマー病 HenryStanley Plummer (1874-1937) American internist and endocrinologist Plummer-Vinson プラマー・ヴィンソン Plummer-Vinson syndrome プラマー・ヴィンソン症候群 HenryStanley [jams.med.or.jp]
Neurologic
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Polyradiculoneuropathy
POEMS syndrome is characterized by polyradiculoneuropathy, a clonal plasma cell disorder, sclerotic bone lesions, elevated VEGF, the presence of Castleman’s disease, and a few minor criteria. [doi.org]
Workup
A high index of suspicion is necessary in order to make the diagnosis of Schnitzler syndrome [1]. A thorough history should be obtained first, during which the onset of symptoms (particularly the rash and relapses of fever), their progression, as well as severity must be covered. The physical examination can only confirm the nonspecific findings, which is why laboratory studies are the crucial step in the workup. A complete blood count (CBC) will show anemia and leukocytosis with neutrophilia in a significant number of patients, whereas basic inflammatory parameters will reveal elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) [1] [4]. The detection of an IgM kappa chain raises solid evidence toward Schnitzler syndrome (the presence of IgG is also reported but in very few patients), although their levels may be paradoxically low at the time of diagnosis [1] [2] [4] [6]. Skin biopsy and subsequent histopathological examination is an equally important diagnostic tool, showing a neutrophilic infiltrate in a significant portion of tested patients [7]. Bone marrow biopsy could be recommended in some cases.
Serum
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C-Reactive Protein Increased
One might consider an approach analogous with temporal arteritis where either sedimentation rate or C-reactive protein increases can be used to assess systemic inflammation in diagnosing the disorder (6). [ispub.com]
Other Pathologies
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Fibrinoid Necrosis
Urticarial vasculitis can also mimic Schnitzler syndrome; however, with urticarial vasculitis, skin biopsy should reveal features of true vasculitis with fibrinoid necrosis of small vessel walls, which should not be present in Schnitzler syndrome. [hindawi.com]
For example, the picture published by Tanneberger et al and interpreted as vasculitis lack the typical features of the latter, as there is no fibrinoid necrosis of vessel wall [ 13 ]. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Urticarial vasculitis should be excluded; even though vasculitis was reported in 20% of SchS cases, true fibrinoid necrosis of the vessel walls was absent in 5 re-examined cases, as indicated before. [doi.org]
For example, the picture published by Tanneberger et al and interpreted as vasculitis lack the typical features of the latter, as there is no fibrinoid necrosis of vessel wall [13]. [ojrd.biomedcentral.com]
However, fibrinoid necrosis, the hallmark of fully developed leukocytoclastic vasculitis, was not seen. Immunofluorescence studies were negative. [journals.lww.com]
Treatment
This treatment controls the condition but does not cure it. [en.wikipedia.org]
The exact pathogenesis is still unclear and treatment remains a challenge. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Prognosis
Prognosis The overall prognosis depends on the development of lymphoproliferative complications such as lymphoma, IgM myeloma or Waldenström's disease (see these terms). [orpha.net]
Prognosis The life span in patients with Schnitzler syndrome has not been shown to differ much from the general population.[1] Careful follow-up is advised, however. [dictionnaire.sensagent.leparisien.fr]
Our objectives are to systematically review disease characteristics of Schnitzler syndrome and collect follow-up information to gain insight into treatment efficacy and long-term prognosis. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Schnitzler syndrome has a favourable prognosis in term of mortality with a survival rate of 94% after 15 years. [flipper.diff.org]
Schnitzler syndrome: beyond the case reports: review and follow-up of 94 patients with an emphasis on prognosis and treatment. [Review] Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. 37(3):137-48, 2007 Dec. Almerigogna F. Giudizi MG. Cappelli F. Romagnani S. [dermnetnz.org]
Etiology
The etiology of Schnitzler syndrome is unclear, but the rapid response to the interleukin-1 receptor inhibitor anakinra underlines the pivotal role which the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 may play in the pathophysiology of this potentially autoinflammatory [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Etiology Etiology remains unclear but the syndrome is probably an acquired auto-inflammatory disorder. It shares many features with genetically determined auto-inflammatory diseases. [orpha.net]
Although the etiology of the syndrome is unknown, current evidence suggests this is an autoinflammatory syndrome. Recognition of this syndrome is critical since it is highly responsive to anakinra. [dovepress.com]
Rheumatology, Dubrava University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia Keywords: Anakinra, canakinumab, colchicine, glucocorticoids, Schnitzler’s syndrome Abstract Schnitzler’s syndrome is a rare autoinflammatory syndrome with unidentified mechanism of disease and etiology [archivesofrheumatology.org]
Epidemiology
Summary Epidemiology Prevalence is unknown and about 150 cases have been reported, primarily in Europe. Clinical description There is a slight male predominance and mean age of disease onset is 51 years. Time to diagnosis often exceeds 5 years. [orpha.net]
AA amyloidosis has also been reported in people with Schnitzler syndrome. [1] The life span in patients with Schnitzler syndrome has not been shown to differ much from the general population. [6] Epidemiology [ edit ] It is a rare condition; as of September [en.wikipedia.org]
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Pathophysiology
It is not yet firmly established whether the monoclonal immunoglobulin component plays a part in the pathophysiology of the urticarial lesions. [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Pathophysiology The pathophysiology of Schnitzler syndrome is largely unclear. [onlinelibrary.wiley.com]
Prevention
It investigates links to lifestyle and presents research on how the suppression of proinflammatory pathways may provide opportunities for both prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. [books.google.com]
[…] treat periodic fevers and autoinflammatory disorders (all ages) which stated that "Anakinra may be used as a first line treatment in patients with a documented diagnosis of Schnitzler syndrome". [5] Outcomes [ edit ] Generally treatment with anakinra prevents [en.wikipedia.org]
Screening and prevention of colorectal cancer Source: Finnish Medical Society Duodecim This article is freely available only to users in the UK. [evidence.nhs.uk]
To prevent this, treatment should be aimed at reducing the concentration of serum amyloid A apolipoprotein, even in patients with moderate or controlled symptoms. [ashpublications.org]
References
- Jain T, Offord CP, Kyle RA, Dingli D. Schnitzler syndrome: an under-diagnosed clinical entity. Haematologica. 2013;98(10):1581-1585.
- De Koning HD. Schnitzler’s syndrome: lessons from 281 cases. Clin Transl Allergy. 2014;4:41.
- Lipsker D. The Schnitzler syndrome. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2010;5:38.
- Simon A, Asli B, Braun-Falco M, et al. Schnitzler's syndrome: diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Allergy. 2013;68(5):562-568.
- Gouveia AI, Micaelo M, Pierdomenico F, Freitas JP. Schnitzler Syndrome: A Dramatic Response to Anakinra. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2016;6(2):299-302.
- Kurian A, Lee JK, Vadas P. Schnitzler syndrome with cold-induced urticaria. J Dermatol Case Rep. 2010;4(4):50-53.
- Sokumbi O, Drage LA, Peters MS. Clinical and histopathologic review of Schnitzler syndrome: the Mayo Clinic experience (1972-2011). J Am Acad Dermatol. 2012;67(6):1289-1295.