title: Spectrum of diseases diagnosed on bone marrow examination of 285 infants in a single tertiary care center.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bone marrow (BM) aspiration and trephine biopsy is one of the most valuable procedures in the evaluation of hematological disorders. There is a shortage of published literature regarding the indications, procedure, and outcome of bone marrow examination (BME) in neonates and infants. The aim of the present study is to analyze the common indications of performing BME and to assess the spectrum of disorders diagnosed from BM of neonates and infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of BMEs performed in infants over a period of 5 years, between 2009 and 2013 was done.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A total of 297 BME were performed on 285 infants, which constitutes 10.3% of pediatric BME procedures during the same period. In our institute, BME is routinely performed by trained pathologists from posterior superior iliac spine in children including infants and neonates with an overall sample adequacy of 97%. Evaluation of cytopenias and suspicion of storage disorder were the most common indications for BME procedure, while acute leukemias and storage disorders were the most common diagnoses offered in infant BM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Posterior superior iliac spine is a good site of BME in neonates and infants. BM trephine biopsy is a difficult procedure in this age group, however remains indispensable in situations where an infiltrative pathology is suspected. BME not only helps to make specific diagnoses but should also be used as an extremely valuable, quick, and economically viable procedure to exclude major hematological disorders including certain forms of storage disorder and hematological malignancy in this age group.
authors.forename: Sreejesh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sreedharanunni
authors.forename: Man Updesh Singh
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Sachdeva
authors.forename: Narender
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Prashant
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Shano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naseem
authors.forename: Jasmina
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahluwalia
authors.forename: Reena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Neelam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Varma
authors.forename: Ram Kumar
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Marwaha
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001706:Biopsy; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D001856:Bone Marrow Examination / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers
keywords: Acute leukemia; Bone marrow aspirate; Bone marrow trephine biopsy; Infant; Neonates; Storage disorder