Could polycythemia vera cause a positive Cologuard test?

Posted by kellysc @kellysc, Feb 4 10:47am

Hello, friends! I am a 50 yr old PV patient currently on Hydroxy and aspirin. I recently did the Cologuard test and received results stating that I needed to follow up with a colonoscopy. My question is - are there other PV patients who got results from Cologuard indicating they needed to follow up with a colonoscopy? I feel like since I have an abundance of blood cells, it seems likely they would be present in my GI tract and would skew my cologuard result. Anybody have experience with this?

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Feb 18 6:15pm

@kellysc, your deduction sounds reasonable that there would be invisible (occult) blood present in the GI tract of people with polycythemia vera. I don't know the answer to that question.

Were you able to ask your doctor about that? Was it suggested to move forward with the colonoscopy to be sure?

kellysc | @kellysc | Feb 18 8:05pm

Hi, Colleen! Thank you for your response. I just had the colonoscopy earlier this week. They did find a rather large polyp (20mm). I am waiting for lab results.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Mar 1 5:30pm

In reply to @kellysc "Hi, Colleen! Thank you for your response. I just had the colonoscopy earlier this week. They..." + (show)

@kellysc, any update from the lab results?

kellysc | @kellysc | Mar 1 7:37pm

Hi, Colleen-
I have not had a follow up with my GI, but lab results seem to indicate 2 precancerous polyps that were removed. Thank you for checking in. Bless you!

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