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Information on polycythaemia vera (PV), a slow-growing blood cancer. Find out about symptoms, how it is diagnosed and treated, and how to get support.
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Many people with polycythemia vera don't have noticeable signs or symptoms. Some people might develop vague symptoms such as headache, dizziness, fatigue and blurred vision.
More-specific symptoms of polycythemia vera include:
•Itchiness, especially after a warm bath or shower
•Numbness, tingling, burning, or weakness in your hands, feet, arms or legs
•A feeling of fullness soon after eating and bloating or pain in your left upper abdomen due to an enlarged spleen
•Unusual bleeding, such as a nosebleed or bleeding gums
Make an appointment with your doctor if you have signs or symptoms of polycythemia vera.
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Polycythemia vera occurs when a mutation in a gene causes a problem with blood cell production. Normally, your body regulates the number of each of the three types of blood cells you have — red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. But in polycythemia vera, your bone marrow makes too many of some of these blood cells.
The cause of the gene mutation in polycythemia vera is unknown, but it's generally not inherited from your parents.
Polycythemia vera can occur at any age, but it's more common in adults between 50 and 75. Men are more likely to get polycythemia vera, but women tend to get the disease at younger ages.
Possible complications of polycythemia vera include:
•Blood clots. Increased blood thickness and decreased blood flow, as well as abnormalities in your platelets, raise your risk of blood clots. Blood clots can cause a stroke, a heart attack, or a blockage in an artery in your lungs or a vein deep within a leg muscle or in the abdomen.
•Enlarged spleen. Your spleen helps your body fight infection and filter unwanted material, such as old or damaged blood cells. The increased number of blood cells caused by polycythemia vera makes your spleen work harder than normal, which causes it to enlarge.
•Problems due to high levels of red blood cells. Too many red blood cells can lead to a number of other complications, including open sores on the inside lining of your stomach, upper small intestine or esophagus (peptic ulcers) and inflammation in your joints (gout).
•Other blood disorders. In rare cases, polycythemia vera can lead to other blood diseases, including a progressive disorder in which bone marrow is replaced with scar tissue, a condition in which stem cells don't mature or function properly, or cancer of the blood and bone marrow (acute leukemia).
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•Mayo Clinic Q and A: Blood disorder causes body to make too many red blood cells
Erythrocytosis, sometimes called polycythaemia, means having a high concentration of red blood cells in your blood. This makes the blood thicker and less able to travel through blood vessels and organs. Many of the symptoms of erythrocytosis are caused by this sluggish flow of blood. Symptoms of erythrocytosis.
May 10, 2024 · Polycythaemia vera (PV) is generally a disease of middle and older age. Carries increased risks of thrombosis, haemorrhage, progression to myelofibrosis, and transformation to acute leukaemia. Life expectancy is reported to be modestly reduced compared with that of the general population.
May 22, 2021 · Key points. Polycythaemia vera: a myeloproliferative disorder with excess erythrocyte production; >98% cases due to JAK2 mutation. Incidence: 2 per 100,000; prevalence: 50 per 100,000; usually presents in patients aged 60-70. Primary polycythaemia: excess RBC production due to JAK2 mutation.
What causes polycythemia vera? Polycythemia vera occurs in your bone marrow, the soft, spongy material at the center of your bones. This is where new blood cells grow. PV begins when a single gene within a single stem cell in the bone marrow malfunctions.
Apr 6, 2023 · The bone marrow and blood cells. To understand more about PV, it helps to know how you make blood cells. Blood cells are made in the soft inner part of the bones, the bone marrow. All blood cells start from the same type of cell called a blood stem cell. The stem cell makes immature blood cells.
