Table of Contents
- Overview
- Symptoms
- Treatment
- Prevention
Polycythemia vera is an abnormal increase in the number of blood cells (primarily red blood cells) produced by the bone marrow.
Alternative Names
Primary polycythemia; Polycythemia rubra vera; Myeloproliferative disorder; Erythremia; Splenomegalic polycythemia; Vaquez's disease; Osler's disease; Polycythemia with chronic cyanosis - Myelopathic polycythemia; Erythrocytosis megalosplenica; Cryptogenic polycythemia
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Polycythemia vera is a disorder of the bone marrow. It causes too much production of white blood cells, red blood cells, and
It is a rare disease that occurs more often in men than women, and is rare in patients under age 40. The exact cause is unknown.
Review Date: 03/02/2009
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of
General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
School of Medicine; and Yi-Bin Chen, MD, Leukemia/Bone Marrow
Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed
by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
