Polycythemia vera and the Jak2(V617F) mutation in a case of hereditary spherocytosis

The identification of Jak2(V617F) mutations in more than 90% of patients with polycythemia vera (PV) has greatly improved the diagnostic accuracy for this uncommon myeloproliferative disorder. Although previous cases of presumptive PV in patients with hereditary spherocytosis (HS) have been described, these earlier reports either preceded the establishment of widely accepted criteria for the diagnosis of PV or lacked definitive studies to rule out secondary causes of polycythemia. In contrast, the author describes here a novel case of PV confirmed at the molecular level in a patient with hereditary spherocytosis by the finding of a Jak2(V617F) mutation. Based on recent advances in understanding the role of Jak2 signaling in the pathogenesis of PV, the author proposes 2 independent biological mechanisms that could account for more than a chance association of these 2 disorders.