Essential thrombocythemia is typically a disease of older patients and considered to be
one of the chronic myeloproliferative diseases. It is frequently associated with
thrombosis and hemorrhage. This retrospective study reviewed 6 patients with essential
thrombocythemia, aged 24 to 59 years, from 1965 through 1986. The mean platelet count
was 1,896,000/㎣ with a maximum of 4,090,000/㎣. At onset, six patients presented with
5 hemorrhagic and 4 thrombotic manifestations. In two paients, one (with myelofibrosis)
and the other (with Ph'+), essential thrombocythemia evolved into acute
myeloblastic leukemia and myelofibrosis 28 and 10 months after initial diagnosis,
respectively. Four patients died of acute renal failure, sepsis, UGI bleeding and unknown
cause 31, 12, 16 and 15 months after initial diagnosis, respectively. The average survival
duration after initial diagnosis was 18.6 months. One patient (24 y.-o. female) is still
being followed at 19 months.
|