McCune Albright Syndrome: Gastrointestinal Polyps and Platelet Dysfunction over 12 Years

Abstract

Background and Objective: Gastrointestinal (GI) polyps with unknown malignant potential and a platelet storage pool deficiency that increases the risk of severe intraoperative and other types of bleeding have been identified in McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS). The natural course of these disorders has not been well characterized. The aim of this study was to report the follow-up of GI polyps and platelet dysfunction (PD) in a cohort of 28 patients with MAS. Methods: Twenty-eight patients with MAS (15 females) were included. Endoscopic screening for GI polyps was undertaken in 14 subjects and 19 were tested for PD. Results: Six subjects (5 males) were diagnosed with GI polyps at a median age of 23 (range 15–43) years, and were monitored for a median period of 8 (range 4.5–11.5) years. At endoscopic follow-up, the 4 patients with hamartomatous polyps at first endoscopy had either normal findings (n = 2), or duodenal gastric metaplasia (n = 2). Two patients with caecal polyps were identified. Of 8 subjects with a platelet storage pool deficiency, 5 required transfusions during surgery, and subsequent platelet cover in 2 markedly reduced intraoperative blood loss. Conclusions: New polyps with uncertain malignant potential are diagnosed after long term follow-up in MAS. Platelet cover reduces the need for red blood cell transfusion during orthopaedic surgery and may be useful to reduce non-operative bleeding events. We recommend regular upper and lower endoscopy and screening for PD in all MAS patients.