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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Can Enlarged Spleen And Liver Lead To Polycythemia Vera?

I AM A 37 YEAR OLD FEMALE, MOTHER OF 11 CHILDREN. The youngest is 12 months old. I have always suffered from headaches and about 5 months ago my neurologists place me on Amatriptelene. 2 -10mg tablets at night before bed. It knocked out the headaches, however within 2 weeks I began to gain a lot of weight. At about 6 months postpartum i weighed 160. However in a matter of months, I now weigh 198 lbs. In addition I started feeling very bloated and having pain in the middle of my upper abdomen. As a result my doctor ordered an ultrasound. I received the results this morning....An enlarged spleen and liver. My family history is one that includes my father who suffers from polycythemia vera which has progressed to leukemia. He has an enlarged spleen and liver. My 49 year old brother was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer last year that spread to both the liver and lungs. Need less to say, I m a bit concerned. I was under the impression that PV was not hereditary but now I wonder. Also as of this morning I m feeling burning during urination. But all labs showed up no infection anywhere. Do you have any advice as I proceed on this journey?
Tue, 3 Jan 2017
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Hematologist,  's  Response
Hello and welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service.

I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

You have enlarged liver and spleen. There are many disease that cause liver and spleen enlargement. Simple congestive cardiac disease can also lead to this. Many leukemia and molto life dative or lymph I proliferative disease can lead to these.

So we cannot find the cause without further investigation. You should go for complete blood count, ESR, SGPT, creatinine first. It will give you general idea. Then you should go for further investigation. In polycythemia, hemoglobin and RBC count is very high so we can diagnose polycythemia from complete blood count test.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Hardik Sanghvi
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Can Enlarged Spleen And Liver Lead To Polycythemia Vera?

Hello and welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. You have enlarged liver and spleen. There are many disease that cause liver and spleen enlargement. Simple congestive cardiac disease can also lead to this. Many leukemia and molto life dative or lymph I proliferative disease can lead to these. So we cannot find the cause without further investigation. You should go for complete blood count, ESR, SGPT, creatinine first. It will give you general idea. Then you should go for further investigation. In polycythemia, hemoglobin and RBC count is very high so we can diagnose polycythemia from complete blood count test. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Hardik Sanghvi