Polycythemia vera is a type of blood cancer. It causes your bone marrow to make too many red blood cells. These excess cells thicken your blood, slowing its flow, which may cause serious problems, such as blood clots. PV is a clonal hematopoietic stem cell disorder in which phenotypically normal red cells, granulocytes, and platelets accumulate in the absence of a recognizable physiologic stimulus.
Causes
- Exposure to ionizing radiation or to chemicals
- Nuclear reactor accident
- Chemical farming-Insecticide,Pesticide,Rodenticide,Weedicide
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Petroleum product
- Plastic
- Benzene- Benzene is used in many industries to make other products, and is also in cigarette smoke, as well as some glues, cleaning products, detergents, art supplies, and paint.
- Smoking
Symptoms
- Aquagenic pruritus- itchiness, especially after a warm bath or shower
- Vertigo
- Tinnitus
- Headache
- Visual disturbances
- Transient ischemic attacks (TIA)
- Systolic hypertertension
- Hepatic venous thrombosis (budd-chiari syndrome)
- Digital ischemia, easy bruising, epistaxis
- Acid-peptic disease, or gastrointestinal hemorrhage
- Hyperuricemia with secondary gout, uric acid stones
COMPLICATION
- 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).
DIAGNOSIS
Blood CBC,SMEAR
Erythrocytosis in combination with leukocytosis, thrombocytosis, or splenomegaly or any combination of these, the diagnosis is apparent.
A bone marrow aspirate and biopsy