Trends in the incidence of polycythemia vera among olmsted county, Minnesota residents, 1935–1989

Abstract

To investigate the suggestion that the incidence of polycythemia vera has increased in recent decades, we ascertained secular trends in the incidence of polycythemia vera in Olmsted County, Minnesota, over the 55-year period, 1935-1989. The inpatient and outpatient medical records of all potential cases of polycythemia vera in Olmsted County residents were reviewed and the diagnostic criteria of the Polycythemia Vera Study Group were applied. We found no indication of an increase in the age- and sex-adjusted incidence of polycythemia vera, which averaged 1.9 per 100,000 person-years (95% C.I., 1.4-2.5) over the study period. Incidence rates increased with age, and age-adjusted incidence rates were greater for men (2.8 per 100,000 person-years; 95% C.I., 1.8-3.9) than for women (1.3 per 100,000 person-years; 95% C.I., 0.7-1.9), with the highest incidence rate (23.5 per 100,000 person-years) among men aged 70-79 years. Survival was reduced in this inception cohort of 50 cases, compared to that expected for individuals of like age and sex (P < 0.0001); median survival following diagnosis was 7.2 years.

A retrospective study on 226 polycythemia vera patients: impact of median hematocrit value on clinical outcomes and survival improvement with anti-thrombotic prophylaxis and non-alkylating drugs

“…We also tried to ascertain the clinical impact of median Hct value during the follow-up. Considering the reported PV incidence [1,2], our casistics probably includes more than 50% of PV cases occurred during those years in the city of Turin. Follow-up was fairly accurate, as three patients only were lost and, moreover, all evaluated patients had at least three complete blood counts performed/year.…”

“…Polycythemia vera (PV) is the most common chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm, with an annual incidence of 2.3 per 100,000 [1,2], a reported median survival of 10-15 years [3][4][5][6] and an overall mortality of 3.5 per 100 person/year [5]. Thrombotic complications are the main cause of morbidity and mortality, occurring in more than one third of patients and causing 35-45% of deaths [5,6].…”

Associations between gender, disease features and symptom burden in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms: an analysis by the MPN QOL International Working Group

“…This is consistent with previous findings, with published data historically supporting a prevalence of females among ET patients and a prevalence of males among patients with PV. [13][14][15][16][17] Gender discrepancies within hematologic malignancies are not unique to MPN. Similar discordances in gender prevalence have been demonstrated in other disorders such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia, chronic lympho-…”

Life expectancy and prognostic factors in the classic BCR/ABL-negative myeloproliferative disorders

“…[15][16][17][18]20,48,49 A study on 831 patients with PV and ET followed for a median time of about 10 years provided evidence that life expectancy of PV patients is reduced when compared with that of the general population, whereas the survival of patients with ET is not significantly shortened. 18 A study from Mayo Clinic including 322 patients with ET followed for a median time of 13.6 years confirmed these data on survival in the first decade of disease and showed that survival became significantly worse thereafter.…”