Secondary Polycythemia Differential Diagnoses

Updated: Jun 07, 2022
  • Author: Srikanth Nagalla, MD, MS, FACP; Chief Editor: Sara J Grethlein, MD, MBA, FACP  more...
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DDx

Diagnostic Considerations

Secondary polycythemia is included as a key differential diagnosis in polycythemia vera clinical practice guidelines. [20]   

An analysis of the cytokine production profiles of patients with secondary polycythemia found decreased plasma levels of interleukin-17A (IL-17A), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), IL-12p70, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) compared with polycythemia vera patients. These researchers suggested that the cytokine production profile may provide a potential diagnostic biomarker to distinguish secondary polycythemia from polycythemia vera. [21]

Differential Diagnoses