Role of serum erythropoietin level in patients with absolute erythrocytosis

Abstract

PRV is a myeloproliferative disorder with an acquired genetic mutation involving the stem cell. Erythropoietin (Epo) is a hemopoietic growth factor which provides some guidance to the diagnosis of PRV. The study was done to evaluate the diagnostic significance of erythropoietin level in PRV and its role in pre and post treated PRVpatients.The study includes (47) patients diagnosed as PRV including (31) males and (16) females with age range (20- 77 years). The criteria for diagnosis of polycythemia is PCV > 52% and/ or Hb ≥18.5 gm/dl for male and PCV >48%and/ or Hb ≥16.5 gm/dl for female.The investigations which were done for all new patients including CBC, blood films and serum Epo, in addition to the BM examination for new indicated cases of PRV. Follow up of old PRV (31) patients were done by PCV and serum Epo. We found thatthe mean Epo was 9.82mIU/ml. There was no statistical significant correlation between Epo mean and mean of other parameters.There was a statistical significance between pre and post treated cases regarding mean PCV and Epo. The acceptible EPO cutoff level to define PRV of (4.9) with sensitivity (71.4), specificity (86.7) and(p<0.001). So, we conclude that the serum Epo level was a simple reliable test for diagnosis of PRV with a cutoff value of (4.9) andthere was a significant difference between treated and untreated cases of PRV regarding PCV and Epo.