Polycythemia vera is a chronic clonal hematopoietic–stem-celldisorder of unknown cause characterized by autonomous bone marrowfunction. Among the long-term consequences of this unregulatedhematopoiesis are the extramedullary production of blood, primarilyin the spleen and the liver, with painful and debilitating organomegalyand portal hypertension; hyperuricemia with secondary gout andrenal stones; often intractable aquagenic pruritus; and hemorrhage,usually mucocutaneous. In a small proportion of cases, clonalsuccession or evolution, frequently abetted by chemotherapy,leads to myelofibrosis and bone marrow failure or acute leukemia.However, it is a short-term consequence, thrombosis, that causesmuch of the illness and death . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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From the Division of Hematology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.
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Low-Dose Aspirin in Polycythemia Vera
Alliot C., Dutrillaux F., Maynadié M., Carli P.-M., Denes A. E., Landolfi R., Marchioli R., Barbui T., Spivak J. L.
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N Engl J Med 2004;
350:1683-1685, Apr 15, 2004.
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