Myeloproliferative Disorders
Signs and Symptoms

Patients with MPN may have many or few symptoms depending on how abnormal their blood counts become.

Those with essential thrombocythemia and polycythemia vera have "thick" blood that is more prone to clotting and is associated with heart attacks, strokes and clots in leg veins. Patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia and myelofibrosis often feel tired and report pain or fullness in their belly from an enlarged spleen.

Patients with MPN may have moderate or severe anemia, a condition where there are not enough red blood cells to carry oxygen. Other signs and symptoms may include:

• Shortness of breath during exertion
• Weakness and fatigue
• Pale skin
• Loss of appetite
• Prolonged bleeding from minor cuts due to low platelet counts
• Purpura, a condition in which the skin bleeds, causing black and blue or pin-sized spots on the skin
• Sinus, skin or urinary infections due to low white blood cell counts

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.