HOST FACTORS IN POLYCYTHEMIA VERA

Abstract

Of 197 patients with polycythemia vera from the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, 132 were men and 65 women. The average age at onset, which did not differ in the 2 sexes or among various ancestral groups, was 53.7 years. A case occurring in a 9-year-old boy was presented. There were twice as many Jews and 1/5 as many Negroes as expected from the hospital population. In physique, ABO blood group frequency, and age at menarche and menopause, patients with polycythemia vera did not differ from normal controls from the same hospital. Additional cases were noted of polycythemia secondary to brain tumor, uterine myoma, and hypernephroma. Among 205 patients with polycythemia, 9 had hypernephroma, 2 of whom had complete hematologlc remission following nephrectomy, for 2 and 11 years. A unique case was presented of polycythemia developing coincident with uterine myomata, disappearing after hysterectomy, and recurring as polycythemia vera 5 years later.