ABSTRACT
Introduction: The blasts in the peripheral blood is usuallyassociated with a haematological disorder. Study aimed tosee if a single blast seen in a peripheral blood film of healthyindividuals and patients of non-neoplastic haematologicaldisorders and non-hematological neoplasms/disorders didhave any clinical significance.Material and Methods: The period of study was from 2014to 2018 conducted at a tertiary care hospital. The study wasdone exclusively on Peripheral Blood Films. The films werestained with Leishman stain. An occasional blast was detectedin some healthy subjects and patients of non-neoplastichaematological disorders and non-hematological neoplasms/disorders.Result: The routine smears were analyzed with caution afterthe first case of a patient of Iron Deficiency Anemia revealeda clear-cut Blast. In the period of 4 years from 2014 to 2018,a total of 23 cases of apparently normal individuals or patientswith non neoplastic haematological disorders and nonhematological neoplasms/disorders showed at least 1% on oneseparate occasion.Conclusion: A careful morphological examination in theperipheral smears of few normal individuals and individualswith non neoplastic haematological disorders and nonhematological neoplasms/disorders showed at least 1%Blast on one separate occasion. The cells were clear cutblasts with a large size, fine nuclear chromatin, one to twonucleoli with round to slightly irregular nuclear contours anda mild amount of pale agranular cytoplasm. On thoroughinvestigations of these individuals there was no evidence ofa neoplastic haematological disorder. Therefore a single blastin a peripheral blood seen in a healthy individuals or patientswith benign haematological disorder and non-neoplasticneoplasms/disorders may not always indicate a neoplasticprocess.
ABSTRACT
Background: Pancytopenia refers to combination of anaemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. It may be a manifestation of a wide variety of disorders, which primarily or secondarily affect the bone marrow. However, aetiology of pancytopenia varies from one geographical region to another. Bone marrow aspiration plays an important role in identifying the cause of pancytopenia. This study was carried to identify the causes of pancytopenia and to find out the bone marrow morphology in cases of pancytopenia.Methods: This study was conducted in the department of haematology in a tertiary care center in Kashmir valley for a period of 3 years. Inclusion criteria: cases with hemoglobin less than 10 gm/dl, total leucocyte count of less than 4000/mm3 and platelet count less than 100,000/mm3 were included in the study.Exclusion criteria: Patients receiving chemotherapy/radiotherapy were excluded from the study. Bone marrow aspiration (BMA) was performed from posterior iliac crest of the patients. Bone marrow aspiration smears were stained with Leishman stain for microscopy.Results: A total of 334 cases were studied during a period of 3 years. Age of patients ranged from 1 year to 85 years with mean of 43.59 years.180 cases were male, and 154 cases were female with male:female ratio of 1.2 :1. The commonest cause of pancytopenia was megaloblastic anemia seen in 103 cases (30.8%) followed by dual deficiency anemia seen in 69 cases (20.7%).37 cases (11%) were of acute leukaemia. Aplastic anemia was seen in 35 cases(10.5%). Other causes of pancytopenia were myelodysplastic syndrome, multiple myeloma, iron deficiency anemia and hypersplenism.Conclusions: Bone marrow aspiration in patients of pancytopenia helps in the identification of the underlying cause in most of the cases. BMA is helpful for understanding the disease process; and in planning further investigations and management of cytopenia patients.