Resource Library
Powered by Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Healthcare Consumers |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
polycythemia vera (pol″e-si-theŽme-ә verŽa) a myeloproliferative disorder of unknown etiology. It is characterized by hyperplasia of the cell-forming tissues of the bone marrow, with resultant elevation of the erythrocyte count and hemoglobin level, as well as an increase in the number of leukocytes and platelets. The skin of the face is often red and swollen, and bleeding beneath the skin is common. Most patients have enlarged spleens. Called also myelopathic or primary polycythemia and Osler or Osler-Vaquez disease. See also secondary polycythemia.
|
||||||||
|








