Bone marrow examination: An important diagnostic tool for haematological disorders

Rajlaxmi Sharma; Sudha Iyengar

Bone marrow examination: An important diagnostic tool for haematological disorders

Authors
Rajlaxmi Sharma, Sudha Iyengar

Abstract
Background: Bone marrow aspiration is an invasive test but have a crucial role in diagnosis of various haematological disorders. Most of these disorders present as anemia followed by pancytopenia or thrombocytopenia. In our hospital, bone marrow aspiration is performed by trained resident doctors of Paediatrics/Medicine departments with the help of Pathology residents. The aim of this study was to interpret the bone marrow aspiration findings to rule out underlying haematological disorders.

Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study carried out in the department of Pathology, G.R. Medical College, Gwalior for a period of 12 months (January 2016 – January 2017). Bone marrow examination of total 82 cases of suspected haematological disorders was carried out. All the relevant history was also recorded for correlation.

Result: In present study, 82 cases of bone marrow aspiration were taken. 50 were females and 32 were males aged between 1 year to 55 years. Commonest indication of bone marrow examination was unexplained anemia followed by thrombocytopenia/leucopenia and pancytopenia. Majority of cases were diagnosed as Megaloblastic anemia (23 cases, 28.6%) followed by acute leukemia (20 cases, 24%) and erythroid hyperplasia (13 cases, 15.8%). Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, myelodysplastic syndrome and infective pathology were seen in 4.8%, 1.2% and 1.2 %, respectively. 7 cases (8.5%) had normal marrow findings.

Conclusion: Bone marrow aspiration is a highly informative diagnostic test to rule out underlying haematological disorders.

Download | Pages : 135-136