Association of HCV-related mixed cryoglobulinemia with specific mutational pattern of the HCV E2 protein and CD81 expression on peripheral B lymphocytes.

bocytopenia), splenectomy will not result in clinically significant improvement. However, it is possible that for certain individuals a small change in circulating platelet number may improve hemostasis. For example, affected males with GATA1 mutations in one family reported diminished frequency and severity of bleeding episodes in adulthood after splenectomy despite persistent thrombocytopenia.1 It is not clear whether this change was due to splenectomy. I believe that splenectomy should be reserved for those rare individuals for whom hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is unavailable and the potential impact of a small absolute increase in circulating platelets is clinically significant. Jonathan G. Drachman