Clinical Presentation
The acronym “CRAB” is sometimes used to refer to the most frequent clinical signs and symptoms of myeloma: raised Calcium, Renal impairment, Anaemia, Bone pain.
In the clinic:
The presence of one or more of these symptoms or abnormal laboratory tests results is often the first clue that an individual may have myeloma and warrants further investigation. These symptoms are a result of the complications caused by the presence of myeloma cells within the bone marrow.
These CRAB and some additional presenting features of myeloma will now be discussed in more detail and the diagnostic criteria then presented.