Abstract
Polycythemia is a rare disease in Japan, and gradually increasing recently. We experienced a case of polycythemia vera complicated with low diffusion capacity of the lung. The patient was 59-years-old woman, and visited our hospital complaining of erythromelalgia. This patient fulfilled many criteria of polycythemia vera. Treatment was done with pipobroman successfully without side effect.
Thrombosis is a most common complication in polycythemia vera, and most common cause of death. This patient accompanied peripheral thrombosis in left hand. Pulmonary function studies showed low diffusion capacity of the lung. Many authors said that thrombosis of the alveolar capillaries induce the decrease of diffusion capacity of the lung.
