The red blood cell count and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate in the diagnosis of polycythaemia vera
BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency in polycythaemia vera (PV) may impact the validity of the haematocrit (HCT), since HCT is red blood cell count (RBC) × mean corpuscular volume (MCV).OBJECTIVES: To investigate (a) the effect of microcytosis on HCT, (b) the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) as a possible additional diagnostic marker for PV.MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study included 182 subjects: 39 wit