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Clinical features

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

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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