The Systemic Inflammation Index: A New Candidate Minor Criterion in the Diagnosis of Polycythemia Vera.

AIM: To investigate inflammation indices and erythropoietin levels for their potential role in distinguishing polycythemia vera from secondary polycythemia and to compare different parameter combinations in terms of the diagnostic accuracy. METHODS: This retrospective cohort was created from patients assessed for polycythemia from January 2020 to December 2023. Polycythemia vera diagnosis was made according to the 2016 World Health Organization criteria (n = 145). Those who did not fulfill the criteria were defined as having secondary polycythemia (n = 84). RESULTS: The neutrophil lymphocyte ratio, platelet lymphocyte ratio and systemic immune-inflammation index were significantly higher in the polycythemia vera group (p < 0.001 for all). Erythropoietin had the highest area under the curve in the analysis to distinguish groups, followed by the systemic immune-inflammation index. The platelet lymphocyte ratio (≥135) had the highest specificity to detect polycythemia vera, followed closely by the systemic immune-inflammation index. The sensitivity for polycythemia vera detection was highest with the erythropoietin and systemic immune-inflammation index combination, followed by erythropoietin and the neutrophil lymphocyte ratio. All the single and combinatory variables exhibited significant performance in predicting polycythemia vera after adjusting for age and sex. However, the erythropoietin and systemic immune-inflammation index combination had the highest odds ratio, followed by erythropoietin alone. CONCLUSION: These are promising findings supporting the usability of these biomarkers, especially the systemic immune-inflammation index, as minor criteria in the diagnosis of polycythemia vera. It is especially crucial to note that using erythropoietin in combination with these markers may improve diagnostic accuracy.

Poisoning by butylated hydroxytoluene quinone methide acting as a superwarfarin: first reported case in humans.

Superwarfarins are anticoagulant rodenticides nearly 100-fold potent than the parent compound. Since their development, accidental and intentional cases of superwarfarin poisoning have been reported. We report the first human case of poisoning by butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) quinone methide acting as a superwarfarin otherwise reported to be a well tolerated food additive and preservative and used as an antioxidant, stabilizer, anti-skinning agent in various industries. We aim to highlight the possible underlying cause of this previously unreported and potentially lethal BHT-related complication in the human.

Secondary Solid Cancers Among Patients with Philadelphia Chromosome-Negative Myeloproliferative Neoplasms: A Multicenter Study.

Objective: We investigated the occurrence and characteristics of secondary solid cancers (SSC) in Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm (Ph- MPN) patients from Türkiye. We identified the potential risk factors for SSC development including the impact of cytoreductive therapies and assess the influence of SSC on patient survival. Material and Methods: 1013 Ph- MPN patients diagnosed between 1995 and 2022 was retrospectively analyzed. Data related to demographics, clinical and laboratory parameters, SSC development, cytoreductive therapy exposure and survival outcomes were collected. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 26.0 software. Results: Of the Ph- MPN patients, 6.6% developed SSC, with carcinoma being the most common type. Older age at Ph- MPN diagnosis and male gender were associated with SSC occurrence. Ph- MPN patients diagnosed with SSC and patients with no diagnosis of SSC showed no significant difference for complete blood count, spleen size, Ph- MPN diagnostic groups and driver mutation frequencies. However, SSC patients showed a higher frequency of arterial thrombosis and tendency towards increased rate for total thrombosis (p=0.030, p=0.069; respectively). In multivariate analysis, arterial thrombosis was the sole independent risk factor and interferon (IFN)-based therapy the sole protective factor for SSC development. Median overall survival (OS) did not differ between patients with and without SSC except for polycythemia vera (PV) patients with SSC, who had shorter OS (175±15 and 321±26 months, respectively; p = 0.005). Conclusion: Our study highlights the prevalence and characteristics of SSC in Turkish patients diagnosed with Ph- MPN. Arterial thrombosis was associated with increased SSC risk while IFN-based therapy offered potential protection from SSC. Screening for SSC in Ph- MPN patients with arterial thrombosis may be relevant. These findings emphasize the importance of malignancy screening in Ph- MPN patients, especially in high-risk subgroups and call for further research to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and optimize treatment strategies.