THE CONTROL OF POLYCYTHEMIA BY MARROW INHIBITION

Abstract

Polycythemia vera, first described by Vaquez in 1892¹ and later by Osler,² has been considered a fatal disease with a relatively short duration of life after onset, although an unusually long duration has been observed in some cases. Lee states, "The prognosis is inevitably fatal, but it must be remembered that this is a chronic disease, the duration of which varies from several months to many years. In the true form of polycythemia, the usual duration even after diagnosis, which is usually not established for over a year, is a number of years."³ Symptomatic relief and control of the hematologic picture have been possible in many patients by means of venesections, phenylhydrazine given orally or roentgen irradiation, but there has been reported no large series of patients treated and observed for a long period in which evidence has been presented that there has been satisfactory control of