1987 Volume 28 Issue 2 Pages 239-243
A 44-year-old man was diagnosed as having polycythemia vera in 1973 and was treated with vercyte, and subsequently with dibromannitol (DBM). He was in good control during the following 10 years. However, pancytopenia and enlargement of the spleen appeared in August, 1983. This tendency developed during the 10 month period following discontinuation of DBM. Shortly before the patient died from pneumonia in July, 1984, laboratory studies revealed a leukocyte count of 1,300/μl with 20% blast cells in the peripheral blood. At autopsy, myeloblastic infiltration was seen in the bone marrow, spleen and kidneys.
It is assumed that the patient died in transition from the polycythemic stage of this disease to leukemia, and development of pancytopenia reflected abnormal proliferation of blast cells in hematopoietic organs.
