A speculative approach to the myeloproliferative syndromes.

By JEROME I. BRODY AND FERNANDO RODRIGUEZ T HE PURPOSE of this report is to describe two well-known clinical conditions which have not been associated specifically with the myeloproliferative syndromes. A recent clinical and patient-record review in this hospital discovered an apparent increase in diabetes mellitus and one example of scieroderma associated with this group of blood abnormalities. Although the patient number admittedly is not very large and only a single instance of scieroderma was recognized, these combinations are of special interest because they suggest certain humoral and metabolic factors which may be related to and correlated with the pathogenesis of these blood dyscrasias. The observations which follow are presented not as experimental or statistical data but rather in the form of suppositions perhaps relevant to the varied features of the myeloproliferative disorders. A total of 66 cases were classified under the category of myeloproliferative syndromes and a summary of the individual diagnoses is given in table 1.