Polycythemia Vera (PV) and Essential Thrombocythemia (ET) are chronic myeloproliferative disorders complicated by a high incidence of thrombotic complications. Extensive coagulation studies failed to demonstrate a consistent pattern of abnormalities associated with thrombosis. Recently, a poor anticoagulant response to activated protein C (APC), due to a mutation of factor V (FV Leiden), has been identified as the most frequent hereditary disorder associated with venous thrombophilia. We investigated in 304 patients with PV and ET whether the presence of FV Leiden could be a risk factor for thrombosis. FV Leiden was found in 14/304 patients (4.6%) and was associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) occurred before and at diagnosis (5/27,16%, with a significant difference of prevalence in comparison of that observed in asymptomatic patients, 9/263, 3%, p = 0.003). Carriership of FV Leiden was associated with VTE relapse, with a prevalence of 3.6% in asymptomatic patients, 6.9% in patients with a single episode of VTE and 18.1% in patients with recurrent VTE. The prevalence of FV Leiden in patients with and without arterial thrombosis was similar (5/79, 6% and 9/211, 4%, respectively, p = 0.337). This study indicates that the prevalence of the FV Leiden mutation in patients with PV and ET is comparable with that observed in the general population. FV Leiden mutation is a risk factor for VTE before and at time of diagnosis and for VTE recurrences. Screening for FV Leiden may be considered to identify PV and ET patients at higher risk of recurrences. Am. J. Hematol. 71:1-6, 2002.

The effect of interferon alpha (IFN) on myeloproliferation and vascular complications was studied in 32 patients (17 female, 15 male; median age 60.5 yr) with polycythemia vera (PV). IFN therapy was initiated at a median time of 19 months after diagnosis. Ten patients were pretreated with chemotherapy in addition to phlebotomy. IFN dose was 12 megaU/wk during the first year, 9 megaU/wk during the second year and 12 megaU/wk thereafter. During IFN alpha treatment hematocrit level was 45.7% and remained at this level after the second year of treatment, compared to 46.5% before IFN. The frequency of phlebotomy before IFN was 0.49/month and dropped to 0.19/month (p<0.0005) during the first year of IFN treatment. IFN normalized high platelet and leukocyte counts in a majority of patients. The incidence of deep venous thromboses was 3.6%/yr before IFN alpha and 1.8%/yr during the first year of treatment. IFN‐induced side‐effects were mainly flu‐like symptoms, fever, fatigue and arthralgia. In conclusion, IFN allowed the reduction of the dose of chemotherapy and decreased the need of phlebotomy. Despite improvement of hematological parameters, it is still uncertain whether IFN alpha can improve clinical symptoms in PV.