Poonam Nanwani1, Sativan Khatri2
BACKGROUND
The bone marrow examination is an essential investigation for the diagnosis of disorders of the blood and bone marrow. This simple and relatively safe procedure is important, particularly in resource poor centres since access to adjuvant diagnostic techniques are often lacking or absent.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
189 patients of all age groups were studied for haematological and non-haematological disorders by bone marrow aspiration in the Department of Pathology, MGM Medical College during the period of 2014 to 2016.
RESULTS
Majority of the patients who had bone marrow aspiration were aged 0-15 years. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1.03. Most (97%) of the marrow aspirate examined had definitive pathologic features, while 14 (7%) were normal marrow elements. Out of 189 cases of bone marrow aspiration, acute leukaemia was the most common haematological disease diagnosed using this procedure. Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia was more common than acute myeloid leukaemia. Aplastic anaemia was seen in 16% cases. Megaloblastic anaemia occurred more commonly than other anaemias. Megaloblastic anaemia was seen in 13 cases (7%) and microcytic anaemia was seen in 5 cases (3%). There were 10 cases (5%) of Idiopathic Thrombocypenic Purpura. Myelodysplastic syndrome and multiple myeloma was seen in 7% and 2% cases respectively. Storage disorder was seen in 3 cases (2%), out of this 02 cases were Gaucher’s disease and one case was Niemann-Pick’s disease.
CONCLUSION
Bone marrow examination is an important step to arrive at the confirmatory diagnosis of many haematological disorders. This procedure remains a veritable tool in the diagnosis and management of a wide range of haematological diseases, especially in a resource poor centre.
