SPECTRUM OF HEMATOLOGICAL DISORDERS ON BONE MARROW ASPIRATE EXAMINATION

Background: Blood disorders are very common ranging from anemias to hematological malignancies. Bone marrow aspiration is a key investigation for hematological disorders. The objective of this study was to determine the sex and age distribution, and pattern of hematological disorders on bone marrow aspirate examination. Material Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Aksa Laboratory, Abbottabad, Pakistan from January 2011 to December 2013. A consecutive sample of 168 patients was selected. All patients referred to this laboratory for bone marrow aspiration were eligible. Patients with history of bleeding disorders like hemophilia were excluded. Those with inconclusive report were dropped. The demographic variables were sex and age grouping. The research variable was pattern of the disorder on bone marrow aspirate examination. All these categorical data was analyzed manually by frequency and percentage. Results: Out of 168 patients, 12(7%) cases were dropped, 13(8.33%) had normal marrow, 26 (16.67%) had non-hematological disorders, 78(50%) had non-malignant hematological disorders while 39(25%) had hematological malignancies. Among non-malignant hematological disorders, megaloblastic anemia was the most common disease affecting 31 patients (39.74%). Out of hematological malignancies, 23(58.97%) were of acute leukemia, followed by five(12.82%) cases of multiple myeloma and four(10.25%) cases of chronic myeloid leukemia. Conclusion: Megaloblastic anemia was the most common disease among non-malignant hematological disorder followed by iron deficiency anemia. Among malignant hematological disorders, acute leukemias were most common. Bone marrow aspiration is very helpful in arriving at the correct diagnosis and ascertaining the cause of disease