Thrombotic and hemorrhagic events in 2016 World Health Organization-defined Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm

• Main Authors: Ik-Chan Song, Sang Hoon Yeon, Myung-Won Lee, Hyewon Ryu, Hyo-Jin Lee, Hwan-Jung Yun, Seon Young Kim, Deog-Yeon Jo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Korean Association of Internal Medicine 2021-09-01
• Series: The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine
• Subjects: myeloproliferative neoplasm; thrombocythemia; essential; polycythemia vera; thrombosis; hemorrhage
• Online Access: http://www.kjim.org/upload/pdf/kjim-2020-634.pdf

Background/Aims Recent changes in the diagnostic criteria for myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) and increasing patient numbers necessitate updating of the data on vascular events in patients with such disorders. Methods In this single-center study, thrombotic and hemorrhagic events were retrospectively analyzed in patients diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV) prefibrotic/early primary myelofibrosis (pre-PMF), or PMF, based on the 2016 World Health Organization diagnostic criteria. Results Of a total of 335 consecutive patients (139 ET, 42 pre-PMF, 124 PV, and 30 PMF patients; 192 males and 143 females) of median age 64 years (range, 15 to 91), 112 (33.4%) experienced a total of 126 thrombotic events before diagnosis, at the time of diagnosis, or during follow-up over a median of 4.6 years (range, 0.1 to 26.5). Cerebrovascular thrombosis (18.8%) was the most common initial event, followed by coronary heart disease (10.1%) and splanchnic (1.5%) and peripheral thrombosis (1.5%). Arterial thrombosis was more common than venous thrombosis (31.3% vs. 2.1%, respectively; p = 0.001). Thrombosis was most frequent in PV patients (39.5%), followed by patients with pre-PMF (38.1%), ET (30.9%), and PMF (13.3%). Of the 112 patients who experienced thromboses, 53 (47%) and 39 (33.9%) had thrombotic events before and at the time of MPN diagnosis, respectively. Twenty-seven patients (8.1%) experienced 29 hemorrhagic events, of which gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 20) was the most common. Conclusions Most thrombotic events occurred before or at the time of diagnosis, and the prevalence of arterial thrombosis was markedly higher than that of venous thrombosis in patients with MPN.