Korean J Med.  2007 Apr;72(4):426-432.

A successful primary coronary intervention of an acute ST elevation myocardial infarction in a patient with polycythemia vera

• Hwang SH
• Yoon NS
• Kim JH
• Ahn YK
• Jeong MH
• Kang JC

Abstract

Polycythemia vera is a chronic myeloproliferative disease characterized by clonal proliferation that arises at the level of the pluripotent stem cell and is also characterized by multiple episodes of bleeding or thrombotic complications. Rarely, polycythemia vera causes coronary arterial occlusion and can lead to ischemic heart disease. We experienced a case of acute ST elevation myocardial infarction in a 70-year-old man with polycythemia vera, who had been treated with hydoxyurea and phlebotomy since August 2005. He complained of severe chest pain of a one-hour duration and an ECG revealed an acute anterior ST elevation myocardial infarction. His leukocyte count was 18,700/mm3, red blood cell count 6,790,000/mm3, hemoglobin level 16.6 g/dL and platelet count 520,000/mm3. A diagnostic coronary angiography showed critical stenosis in the middle left anterior descending artery (LAD) and thrombotic total occlusion in the first diagonal branch (D1). Successful primary percutanenous coronary intervention was performed using a drug eluting stent in the LAD and balloon angioplasty for the D1 lesion.

Keyword

Myocardial infarction; Thrombosis; Angioplasty

MeSH Terms

Aged
Angioplasty
Angioplasty, Balloon
Arteries
Chest Pain
Constriction, Pathologic
Coronary Angiography
Electrocardiography
Erythrocyte Count
Hemorrhage
Humans
Leukocyte Count
Myocardial Infarction*
Myocardial Ischemia
Phlebotomy
Platelet Count
Pluripotent Stem Cells
Polycythemia Vera*
Polycythemia*
Stents
Thrombosis