Epidemiology of the myeloproliferative disorders polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia.

The annual incidence of polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) is approximately 2 and 1.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, respectively, if based on large population surveys and adjusted to a standard population. Survival for ET patients does not differ from that of the general population. However, it appears that PV patients have a significantly higher mortality, at least for patients diagnosed before 1990.