Stiffer Spleen Predicts Higher Bone Marrow Fibrosis and Higher JAK2 Allele Burden in Patients With Myeloproliferative Neoplasms
Riccardo Moia, Micol Giulia Cittone, Paola Boggione, Giulia Francesca Manfredi, Chiara Favini, Bassel Awikeh, Anita Rebecca Pedrinelli, Abdurraouf Mokhtar Mahmoud, Maura Nicolosi, Mattia Bellan, Pier Paolo Sainaghi, Mario Pirisi, Gianluca Gaïdano, Andrea Patriarca, Cristina Rigamonti
Abstract
A total of 63 myeloproliferative neoplasms [MPN; 9 polycythemia vera (PV), 32 essential thrombocythemia (ET), and 22 myelofibrosis (MF)] underwent spleen stiffness (SS) measurement by vibration-controlled transient elastography equipped with a novel spleen-dedicated module. Higher SS values significantly correlated with grade 2-3 bone marrow (BM) fibrosis ( p =0.035), with hemoglobin level <10 g/dl ( p =0.014) and with white blood cells ≥10,000/μl ( p =0.008). Median SS was significantly higher in MF patients compared to ET and PV ( p =0.015). SS also correlated with higher JAK2 variant allele frequency ( p =0.02). This study identifies SS as a potential noninvasive tool that reflects BM fibrosis and the mutational burden in MPN.