Clinical features
The clinical features of polycythaemia vera comprise:
- most frequently over the age of 50, insidious onset
- males more than female, Caucasian more than Afro-Carribean
- pruritus is very common - exacerbated by a warm bath
- splenomegaly (1)
- suffused reddish to red-blue tinge of nose, ears, lips and buccal mucosa
Neurological symptoms due to increased red cell mass and expanded plasma volume - headache, dizziness, night sweats, vertigo, tinnitus, lassitude, visual disturbances.
Other circulatory disturbances may occur:
- engorged conjunctival and retinal vessels
- ischaemic symptoms - angina, intermittent claudication
- increased risk of venous thrombosis and haemorrhagic phenomena - epistaxis may occur; minor or major ecchymoses Others phenomena include:
- splenomegaly; and later, hepatosplenomegaly
- hyperuricaemia - leading in some cases to gout
- peptic ulceration; a common complication
Reference:
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