Articles

Immune-related adverse event presenting as triple M syndrome following pembrolizumab treatment in a patient with stage 3 malignant melanoma: A case report

BJMO - volume 18, issue 7, november 2024

Y. Vanbiervliet MD, H. Vandekerckhove MD, N. Van Tittelboom MA, V. Neyrinck MD, V. Renard MD, S. De Waele MA

SUMMARY

This case report discusses a 76-year-old woman with a history of epilepsy and cerebral aneurysms who underwent surgical intervention for stage III malignant melanoma and subsequently received pembrolizumab as adjuvant immunotherapy. Four weeks post-treatment initiation, she presented with unilateral ptosis and was diagnosed with a complex immune-related adverse event involving myocarditis, myositis, and myasthenia gravis, termed the triple M syndrome. The patient exhibited elevated cardiac and muscular biomarkers, deranged liver enzymes, hypothyroidism, severe aortic valve insufficiency, and decreased systolic function. Comprehensive diagnostic assessments ruled out structural abnormalities and ischaemic disease, prompting the initiation of high-dose IV corticosteroids. The patient’s clinical course involved steroid resistance, necessitating an escalation of corticosteroids and the introduction of mycophenolic acid as second-line immunosuppressive therapy. A positive evolution was observed with a resolution of ptosis and improvement of cardiac biomarkers, including troponin levels, leading to successful discharge.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2024;18(7):279–281)

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