Diagnostic importance of bone marrow examination in non-hematological disorders.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the frequency of involvement of bone marrow with non-haematologic disorders and to observe the significance of bone marrow examination in establishing primary diagnosis of the same.


METHODS
It was a descriptive study that extended from January 2003 to September 2005. A total of 4569 bone marrow aspirate and trephines were reported during this period. Only the non-haematological disorders were analyzed for their clinical and laboratory parameter.


RESULTS
During the study period, 63 patients (1.4%) were diagnosed to have non-haematological diseases detected primarily through bone marrow examination. The mean age of patients at time of procedure was 33 years (range 6 months to 89 years), with male to female ratio of 3.2:1. Anaemia was the most frequent clinical finding followed by splenomegaly and weight loss. In adults metastatic tumors were the commonest disorder, followed by chronic granulomatous disease/reaction. However in children, storage disorders were more prevalent followed by haemophagocytosis as the second commonest non-haaematological disease.


CONCLUSIONS
Metastatic solid tumors were the frequent non-hematologic disorder involving bone marrow in adult patients while storage diseases were most common among children. Hence, bone marrow examination is a useful laboratory tool in asserting the diagnosis of various non-haematological malignancies and other miscellaneous disorders.
Syed
Naveen Naz
NN
Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
Moiz
Bushra
B
Adil
Salman Naseem
SN
Khurshid
Mohammad
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000740:Anemia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D001856:Bone Marrow Examination / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies