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The MastAttack 107: The Layperson’s Guide to Understanding Mast Cell Diseases, Part 45

54. How does mast cell disease affect clotting?

Heparin is a very potent blood thinner and inhibits the body’s ability to form clots.  Mast cells are full of heparin. Mast cells stores chemicals like heparin in little pouches inside them called granules. In the granules, histamine is stuck to heparin. This means that when mast cells open their granules and release histamine, heparin comes out with it. This can contribute to things like bruising or bleeding more than expected.

Mast cells release other chemicals that can affect clotting. Platelet activation factor and thromboxane A2 both encourage the body to make clots. Some chemicals that help to regulate when to make a clot can activate mast cells, like complement C3a and C5a.

55. How many people have mast cell disease?

It is hard to know exactly how many people have a rare disease because they are not reported if they are recognized and correctly diagnosed. As recognition and diagnosis improves, rare diseases are often found to be more prevalent than previously thought. The numbers below are current estimates.

Systemic mastocytosis is thought to affect around 0.3-13/100000 people. In one large study, indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM) makes up 47% of cases. Aggressive systemic mastocytosis (ASM) has been described in various places as comprising 3-10%. Systemic mastocytosis with associated hematologic disease could count for as many of 40% of cases of SM. Mast cell leukemia is extremely rare and accounts for less than 1% of SM cases.

Systemic mastocytosis accounts for about 10% of total mastocytosis cases. This means that total mastocytosis cases come in at around 3-130/100000 people. The remaining 90% of mastocytosis cases are cutaneous with incidence roughly around 2.7-117/100000 people.

We do not have yet have a great grasp upon how many people have mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) but from where I am sitting, it’s a lot and that number is likely to grow. We know that genetic studies have found mutations that might be linked to MCAS in up to 9% of the people in some groups. However, having a mutation is not the same thing as having a disease. As we learn more about MCAS, we will gain some clarity around how many people have it.

For more detailed reading, please visit the following posts:

Progression of mast cell diseases: Part 2

The Provider Primer Series: Diagnosis and natural history of systemic mastocytosis (ISM, SSM, ASM)

The Provider Primer Series: Natural history of SM-AHD, MCL and MCS

The Provider Primer Series: Cutaneous mastocytosis/Mastocytosis in the skin