Abstract
Patients with polycythemia vera are at high risk for vaso-occlusive events including cerebral ischemia and hemorrhage. Cerebral ischemic events are due to increased blood viscosity and platelet activation within the central nervous system arterial vessels. We present a case of a 65-year-old woman who presented to the emergency department with seizures followed by left-sided weakness. Hematologic investigations revealed a hyperviscous state, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was consistent with bilateral hemorrhagic infarction. Genetic studies were positive for polycythemia vera mutation. Symptoms improved with phlebotomy and antiplatelet agents. Through this case, we aim to highlight polycythemia vera as a cause of hemorrhagic stroke and the importance of blood counts in the routine evaluation of the same.
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Association for Helping Neurosurgical Sick People. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Derivative-Non Commercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit.
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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License, which permits unrestricted reproduction and distribution, for non-commercial purposes only; and use and reproduction, but not distribution, of adapted material for non-commercial purposes only, provided the original work is properly cited.
