Essential thrombocythemia – Incidence of thrombotic complications

Essential thrombocytemia is a classic negative chronic myeloproliferative disease BCR-ABL characterized by global myeloid proliferation but mainly on the megacariocitary series. Most symptomatic patients show manifestations due to the vascular thromboses or haemorrhages. The objective of the paper is to evaluate the incidence of thrombotic complications.

The study was carried out in the Haematology Compartment of Constanta County Clinical Hospital on a lot of 60 cases with essential thrombocytemia.

The diagnosis criteria were OMS 2008 criteria.

On the studied lot, on the diagnosis, 45 patients (75%) were symptomatic. Among the symptomatic ones 27 patients (60%) showed thromboembolic manifestations in the moment of the diagnosis or after diagnosis.

The thrombotic manifestations present at the patients with essential thrombocytemia taken for the study were: cerebral micro thromboses - 10 cases; peripheral micro thromboses - 3 cases; erythromelalgia - 6 cases; acrocyanosis - 2 cases; coronary thrombosis - 1 case; portal vein thrombosis - 2 cases; pulmonary thromboembolism - 1 case; thrombosis of placenta vessels- 2 cases.

The thrombocytosis degree is not the only important risk factor for thrombosis. The age over 60 years, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, smoking, atherosclerosis, are associated risk factors (independent from thrombocytosis) for the frequency and severity of the thromboses. In this framework, on the one hand the increase of accessibility to the background therapy proven efficient (interferon, anagrelide) and on the other hand the mentioning in the cardiovascular pathology guides of primary and secondary thromboses as risk factors along with hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemias, etc is required.