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N Dainiak, R Hoffman, AI Lebowitz, L Solomon, L Maffei and K Ritchey
We investigated the pathogenesis of isolated erythrocytosis of 14 yr
duration in a 28-yr-old man. The increase in red cell mass was attributed
to increased erythropoietin production. An extensive search for recognized
causes of secondary erythrocytosis was unrevealing. Family members were
found to be hematologically normal. After reduction of the circulating red
cell mass by 20%, erythropoietin activity nearly quadrupled, thus
suggesting a normal erythropoietin response to phlebotomy. When bone marrow
cells of the patient were cultured in plasma clots in the absence of added
erythropoietin, endogenous erythroid colony formation was observed, a
pattern previously believed to be specific for polycythemia vera bone
marrow cells. Our observations suggest that the erythrocytosis in this
individual is best explained by an abnormal "servoregulatory" mechanism of
erythropoietin production. In addition, this is the first instance in which
the rule that endogenous erythroid colony formation is correlated with the
diagnosis of polycythemia vera has not held.
This article has been cited by other articles:
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| Copyright © 1979 by American Society of Hematology Online ISSN: 1528-0020 | |||||||||