Serum erythropoietin (EPO) is often used to differentiate primary polycythemia or polycythemia vera (PV) from secondary polycythemia. The current major criteria for diagnosis of PV are high hemoglobin (Hb) level, > 18.5 g/dL for males, > 16.5 g/dL for females and the presence of JAK2 gene mutation while panmyelosis of the bone marrow, and low EPO level are minor criteria. Herein, I reported a 6...

We performed in vitro culture studies examining the interaction of erythropoietin with red cell progenitors in polycythemia vera. Bone marrow was obtained from five patients with typical disease and from five healthy volunteers, and assayed for erythroid colony formation (CFU-E) by the methylcellulose technique. In cultures without added erythropoietin, a mean eightfold greater cloning efficien...