What is the Difference Between Polycythemia Vera and Essential Thrombocythemia

The key difference between polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia is that polycythemia vera is a rare blood disorder that causes an increase of all blood cells, particularly red blood cells, while essential thrombocythemia is a rare blood disorder in which there is an increase of platelets.

Polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia are two rare blood disorders. They are also classified under myeloproliferative neoplasms.  Both these blood disorders lead to an increase in the amount of particular blood cells. Moreover, both these conditions cause life-threatening complications if untreated.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Polycythemia Vera
3. What is Essential Thrombocythemia
4. Similarities – Polycythemia Vera and Essential Thrombocythemia
5. Polycythemia Vera vs Essential Thrombocythemia in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Polycythemia Vera and Essential Thrombocythemia

What is Polycythemia Vera?

Polycythemia vera is a rare blood disorder in which there is an increase in all blood cells, especially red blood cells. The increase in blood cells usually makes the blood thicker. This may lead to strokes and tissue or organ damage. Polycythemia vera is specifically characterized by erythrocytosis, which is the high concentration of red blood cells. Polycythemia vera is caused by genetic mutations that develop during the lifetime. A specific mutation called V617F in the JAK2 kinase is strongly associated with polycythemia vera genetic disorder. It is not inherited.

In most cases, the cause is not known for this genetic disorder. The symptoms of this condition may include lack of energy or weakness, headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, trouble breathing, inability to concentrate, night sweating, red, flushed, and warm face, nose bleeds, bleeding gums, coughing up blood, heavy menstrual bleeding, bruising, itchy skin, gout, numbness, and high blood pressure. The possible complications that result from polycythemia vera include heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, and liver and spleen enlargement.

Polycythemia vera can be diagnosed through medical history, physical examination, blood tests such as red blood cell counts, and genetic testing. Furthermore, treatment options for polycythemia vera may include phlebotomy (the procedure that removes blood from the body) and certain medication, including chemotherapy.

What is Essential Thrombocythemia?

Essential thrombocythemia is a rare blood disorder in which there is particularly an increase in platelets. This condition may lead to the formation of thrombus or blood clots in blood vessels. This can cause serious problems such as stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, and transient ischemic attack. Essential thrombocythemia may be caused by acquired genetic changes in any of several genes, including the JAK2 gene, CALR gene, and rarely, MPL, THPO, or TET2 gene. The symptoms of this condition may include pain, swelling, and redness in the arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain, headaches, dizziness, weakness or numbness, blurred vision, slurred speech, easy bruising, nose bleeding, gastrointestinal tract bleeding, bloody stools, blood in urine, weight loss, low-grade fevers, night sweating, pain, redness or swelling in hand or feet, and enlarged spleen.

Essential thrombocythemia can be diagnosed by medical history, physical examination, blood tests, bone marrow tests, and molecular testing (JAK2 mutation, CALR mutation, and MPL mutation). Furthermore, treatment options for essential thrombocythemia may include drug therapy (low-dose aspirin and cytoreductive therapy) and plateletpheresis.

What are the Similarities Between Polycythemia Vera and Essential Thrombocythemia?

• Polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia are two different blood disorders that are very rare.
• They are also classified under myeloproliferative neoplasms.
• Both these blood disorders lead to an increase in the amount of particular blood cell concentration.
• They are caused due to acquired genetic mutations.
• Both these blood disorders cause life-threatening complications if untreated.
• These blood disorders can be diagnosed through physical examination and blood tests.
• They are treated through specific medications.

What is the Difference Between Polycythemia Vera and Essential Thrombocythemia?

Polycythemia vera is a rare blood disorder in which there is an increase of all blood cells, particularly red blood cells, while essential thrombocythemia is a rare blood disorder in which there is particularly an increase of platelets. Ths, this is the key difference between polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia. Furthermore, polycythemia vera is caused by acquired genetic mutations in genes like JAK2 kinase (V617F), while essential thrombocythemia is caused by acquired genetic mutations in genes like JAK2, CALR, MPL, THPO, or TET2.

The below infographic presents the differences between polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Polycythemia Vera vs Essential Thrombocythemia

Polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia are two rare different blood disorders that are due to acquired genetic mutations. Polycythemia vera causes an increase in all blood cells, particularly red blood cells. In contrast, essential thrombocythemia causes an increase in platelets. So, this is the key difference between polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia.

Reference:

1. Watson, Stephanie. “Polycythemia Vera: Symptoms, Causes, and Diagnosis.” Healthline, Healthline Media.
2. “Essential Thrombocythemia.” MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Polycythemia-vera” (CC0) via Pixabay
2. “Essential Thrombocythemia, Peripheral Blood (10189570483)” By Ed Uthman from Houston, TX, USA – Essential Thrombocythemia, Peripheral Blood Uploaded by CFCF (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia