Polycythemia

Question 1

what is polycythemia?

Answer 1

PCV higher than normal for the species/breed
dogs >60
cats >50

Question 2

what can lead to dehydration that causes relative polycythemia?

Answer 2

vomiting/diarrhea
HGE
polyuria with inadequate water consumption

Question 3

how can you treat relative polycythemia?

Answer 3

replace deficits
address underlying cause if needed
rarely hard to fix

Question 4

what is the PCV in absolute polycythemia?

Answer 4

> 65%

Question 5

what can secondary absolute polycythemia be from?

Answer 5

neoplasia (renal tumor)
hypoxemia

Question 6

what should you do if you find absolute polycythemia?

Answer 6

look for hypoxemia
look for renal mass
if not: likely primary

Question 7

which dogs have high PCVs normally?

Answer 7

greyhounds/sighthounds

Question 8

how does catecholamine release cause relative polycythemia in dogs?

Answer 8

splenic contraction

Question 9

what should you look for in suspected relative polycythemia?

Answer 9

source of loss

Question 10

how will polycythemia affect glucose?

Answer 10

decrease measured glucose concentration on point of care unit

Question 11

how will polycythemia affect a heart murmur?

Answer 11

will decrease likelihood of hearing

Question 12

what can cause primary polycythemia?

Answer 12

polycythemia vera
inappropriate at level of bone marrow

Question 13

what can cause hypoxemia and therefore secondary polycythemia?

Answer 13

right to left shunt: PDS, tetrology of fallot, VSD
high altitude

Question 14

what would you expect the EPO level to be in primary absolute polycythemia?

Answer 14

low

Question 15

how can you treat absolute polycythemia?

Answer 15

fix primary cause if possible (not with right to left shunt, but can remove renal mass)
hydroxyurea
periodic phlebotomy