Spectrum of hematological disorders on bone marrow examination in a tertiary care Centre

Objective: The aims of this study were to understand the range of different blood-related disorders diagnosed through bone marrow examination and to explore the connection between the age groups and genders of our patients with the subtypes of acute leukemia. Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried over a period of one year from January 2022 to December 2022, in the department of Pathology, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad. Analysis of bone marrow was conducted on patients referred with suspected blood-related disorders, and a total of 254 cases were incorporated into the study. We divided age into groups as 0-12 years (paediatric age group) and >12 years (adults) for comparison with subtypes of acute leukemias. Pearson chi-square test was applied. P value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The age range was from 05 months - 91 years with male: female ratio of 1.2:1. The prevalent non-malignant conditions identified during bone marrow examination were peripheral destruction/consumption of platelets (24.8%) followed by anemias (22%) and infection- related changes (9.4%). Among hematological malignancies, acute leukemias were the most frequent (22.8%), with chronic leukemias following at 7.1%. We also observed that Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia was more common in Paediatric age group, while Acute Myeloid Leukemia was more frequent type of acute leukemia in adults (p <0.001). Conclusion: The examination of bone marrow specimens is a key procedure for swiftly obtaining a confirmatory diagnosis for numerous hematological disorders, including hematologic malignancies. (author)