Systemic Inflammatory Index in Polycythemia Vera and Its Prognostic Implications.

: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical and prognostic associations of the systemic inflammatory index (SII) in polycythemia vera (PV) patients. SII integrates information on absolute neutrophil (ANC), lymphocyte (ALC), and platelet counts into one index (calculated as ANCxALC/platelet count) and was previously shown to predict thrombotic and mortality risks in the general population. : A total of 279 PV patients treated in several hematologic centers in Croatia and Serbia was retrospectively evaluated.

Evaluation of Absolute Neutrophil, Lymphocyte and Platelet Count and Their Ratios as Predictors of Thrombotic Risk in Patients with Prefibrotic and Overt Myelofibrosis.

Aim: To investigate the prognostic contribution of absolute neutrophil (ANC), lymphocyte (ALC), platelet count and their ratios, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), to thrombotic risk in patients with prefibrotic and overt fibrotic myelofibrosis (MF).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a cohort of 256 patients with prefibrotic (85 patients) and overt fibrotic MF (171 patients) treated in six Croatian hematological centers.

Results: Prefibrotic compared to overt fibrotic MF patients presented with significantly higher ALC, platelet count and PLR, and experienced longer time to thrombosis (TTT).

Reduced Corticosteroid Exposure Is Safe and Does Not Reduce Disease Control among Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Treated with Escalated BEACOPP (eBEACOPP).

: eBEACOPP is the most effective chemotherapy regimen for younger patients with early unfavorable (EU) and advanced-stage (AS) Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), albeit with significant toxicities. The 14-day/cycle prednisone course contributes to side effects, including osteoarticular events like avascular bone necrosis (AVN). Our center has been using eBEACOPP since 2009 for AS and 2014 for EU patients.

CHRONIC MEDICAL CONDITIONS IN CROATIAN WAR VETERANS COMPARED TO THE GENERAL POPULATION: 25 YEARS AFTER THE WAR.

Many published reports have documented an increased prevalence of chronic medical conditions among veterans, but there were only a few studies that compared these increases with the general population. The aim of this study was to determine differences in chronic medical conditions between Croatian war veterans and the general population. This study included two groups of subjects, i.

High platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio may differentiate polycythemia vera from secondary polycythemia.

Discriminating polycythemia vera (PV) from secondary polycythemia (SP) is crucial due to the inherent risk of thrombosis in PV and different treatment approaches. The majority of PV patients have subnormal serum erythropoietin levels and harbor Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) mutations; however, serum erythropoietin levels may be normal in approximately one third of PV patients and mutational analysis is costly and requires access to specialized laboratories. Recently, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratios (PLR) emerged as rapidly available biomarkers to identify PV patients under an increased risk of thrombosis and death.

Hematocrit to hemoglobin ratio as a prognostic marker in polycythemia vera.

Background: The hematocrit to hemoglobin ratio (HHR) is frequently used in everyday practice to measure hemoconcentration; however, clinical associations of HHR in the context of polycythemia vera (PV) have not been investigated so far.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively assessed HHR at the time of diagnosis in 107 PV and 40 secondary polycythemia (SP) patients from three community hospitals.

Results: Median HHR was higher in PV than in SP patients (3.

Beneficial effect of ACE inhibitors on kidney function in polycythemia vera.

Background: Reduced kidney function has been associated with worse clinical outcomes in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN). Statins and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-i) have renoprotective properties and their pleiotropic effects might also affect the malignant MPN clone; however, whether concomitant use of statins and ACE‑i has a positive effect on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in polycythemia vera (PV) patients is currently unknown.

Methods: This multicenter retrospective study investigated effects of statins and ACE‑i on 12-month eGFR dynamics in 75 PV patients.

Higher serum uric acid is associated with higher risks of thrombosis and death in patients with primary myelofibrosis.

Background: Serum uric acid (SUA) can promote inflammation and is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity. Primary (PMF) and secondary myelofibrosis (SMF) are myeloproliferative neoplasms characterized by high cellular turnover and substantial risk of thrombosis and death.

Methods: We have retrospectively investigated SUA in 173 patients with myelofibrosis (125 PMF; 48 SMF) and 30 controls.

Reduced renal function strongly affects survival and thrombosis in patients with myelofibrosis.

We retrospectively investigated a cohort of 176 myelofibrosis patients (128 primary-PMF; 48 secondary-SMF) from five hematology centers. The presence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) was determined in addition to other clinical characteristics. CKD was present in 26.

C reactive protein to albumin ratio as prognostic marker in primary and secondary myelofibrosis.

We retrospectively investigated C reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) in a cohort of 142 patients with myelofibrosis [101 primary (PMF); 41 secondary (SMF)] and compared it to hematological and clinical parameters. Among other associations, higher CAR was significantly associated with higher grade of bone marrow fibrosis, lower frequency of mutations, presence of constitutional symptoms, massive splenomegaly, transfusion dependency, blast phase disease, lower hemoglobin, lower platelets, higher ferritin and higher lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) ( < .05 for all analyses).