Clinical course of essential thrombocythemia in 147 cases

✍ Scribed by Pierre Fenaux; Marc Simon; Marie Thérèse Caulier; Jean Luc Lai; Jenny Goudemand; Francis Bauters

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 744 KB
• Volume: 66
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(19900801)66:3<549::aid-cncr2820660324>3.0.co;2-6

✦ Synopsis

The authors retrospectively analyzed the initial characteristics, treatment, and clinical course in 147 patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET). Median age was 60 years and the M:F ratio was 0.69. At diagnosis, 53 patients were asymptomatic; 50 patients had functional symptoms (mainly vasomotor disturbances); 27 patients had large vessel thrombosis; 27 patients had a bleeding diathesis; and seven patients had both bleeding and thrombosis. The platelet count ranged from 0.7 to 2.92 X 10l2/1. Forty-five of the 61 tested patients (61%) had prolonged bleeding time and/or platelet hypoaggregation. Three patients had in vitro spontaneous aggregation. No significant correlations were found between hemostatic findings and in vivo bleeding or thrombosis. The incidence of bleeding, however, was higher in patients with more than 2 X 101'/1 platelets. Of 87 karyotypes performed with banding techniques, only four were abnormal. One hundred twenty-nine patients received one or more cytoreductive agents at diagnosis or during follow-up. Sixty patients received an antiaggregating agent.