EVALUATION OF RADIOPHOSPHORUS THERAPY IN PRIMARY POLYCYTHEMIA

During the past decade, radiophosphorus has become a widely accepted agent for the treatment of primary polycythemia, and favorable experience with it has been reported by a number of investigators.1In the eight year period from Jan. 1, 1942 through Dec. 31, 1949, 199 patients who had primary polycythemia have been treated with radiophosphorus at the Mayo Clinic. This group included 78 women and 121 men varying in age from 25 to 73 years, with a mean age of 54 years. The case records of this entire series were of value in the analysis of most pretreatment features. In the consideration of posttreatment features, inadequacy of treatment, failure to return, and recentness of treatment have reduced this total group to 148 patients.In addition to the foregoing, we have considered a group of 32 patients with primary polycythemia who were treated with means other than radiophosphorus (phlebotomy, phenylhydrazine, and