Myocardial ischemia in Vaquez's disease

The authors report a study performed on the ECG findings in patients affected by polycythemia rubra vera. Clinicopathological correlations are made on the basis of autopsic examinations of 11 of these patients (out of the 21 subjects studied). The clinical investigation was performed on the ECG findings according to the Minnesota Code; pathologic investigation pointed out some particular lesions of myocardial district, as myocardium sclerosis, acute infarction, post-infarction scars, vascular lesions of the macro- and microcirculation. The results showed that ECG and the pathological findings in polycythemia vera appear to have a physiopathologic background although the latter is not linked to a well-defined anatomopathologic picture.