Polycythemia risk factors

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] ; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Debduti Mukhopadhyay, M.B.B.S [2]

Overview

There are no established risk factors for developing polycythemia vera except for the genetic abnormality JAK2V617F.

Risk Factors

One of the most common and most dangerous complications of polycythemia vera is thrombus formation. The risk factors are as follows:^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]
Women- usually younger at the time of diagnosis, have a higher risk of arterio-venous thrombosis.
Mutation– the higher burden of JAK2V617F allele
Inflammatory markers- Pentraxins play an important role: increased hs-CRP and a lower PTX3 have a higher risk of thrombosis.
Presence of microparticles- responsible for decreased thrombin inhibition, increased CD41, and an increased chance of splenomegaly.
Neutrophil Extracellular Trap formations- NETosis and apoptosis.

References

↑ Barbui, Tiziano; Carobbio, Alessandra; Rumi, Elisa; Finazzi, Guido; Gisslinger, Heinz; Rodeghiero, Francesco; Randi, Maria Luigia; Rambaldi, Alessandro; Gisslinger, Bettina; Pieri, Lisa; Bertozzi, Irene; Casetti, Ilaria; Pardanani, Animesh; Passamonti, Francesco; Vannucchi, Alessandro M.; Tefferi, Ayalew (2014). “In contemporary patients with polycythemia vera, rates of thrombosis and risk factors delineate a new clinical epidemiology”. Blood. 124 (19): 3021–3023. doi:10.1182/blood-2014-07-591610. ISSN 0006-4971.
↑ . doi:10.36648/1791-809X.14.6.763. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ Barbui T, Finazzi G (1997). “Risk factors and prevention of vascular complications in polycythemia vera”. Semin Thromb Hemost. 23 (5): 455–61. doi:10.1055/s-2007-996122. PMID 9387204.
↑ Abdulkarim K, Samuelsson J, Johansson P, Andréasson B (2017). “Risk factors for vascular complications and treatment patterns at diagnosis of 2389 PV and ET patients: Real-world data from the Swedish MPN Registry”. Eur J Haematol. 98 (6): 577–583. doi:10.1111/ejh.12873. PMID 28251679.

Overview