Osteolytic lesion in polycythemia vera: First report and review of literature.

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are a group of rare clonal disorders of hematopoietic progenitor cells that are associated with morbidity from disease-related symptoms, thrombotic events, and risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) [1]. The three most common MPNs are polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocytosis (ET), and myelofibrosis (MF). Patients withMPN can experience a constellation of debilitating symptoms that negatively impact their quality of life [2–5]. In prior surveys of patients withMPNs, bone pain was the fourth most common symptom reported by 44% of patients and rated as “very severe” in up to a third ofMF patients [2–5]. In very rare situations, patients with MPN can develop osteolytic lesions [6–21]. We report the first case of an osteolytic lesion in a chronic-phase PV patient, and review published case reports of MPN patients with osteolytic lesions to summarize the clinical characteristics and implications for patient care.