RESUMEN
Bone marrow aspiration (BMA) is much more frequently used than bone marrow biopsy (BMB) in the diagnosis of different haematological disorders. BMB is performed primarily in cases where bone marrow aspiration either fails or gives insufficient information. It is the sole modality of diagnosis in some situations and may give useful information of prognostic importance. The present study was done to find comparative usefulness of each of these procedures in various hematological disorders. Methods: Study subjects included all 45 patients attending the hematology section of pathology department of College of Medicine & Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital, Kalyani for bone marrow aspiration and who also consented for bone marrow biopsy during the period from 1st July 2011 to 30th June 2012. BMA smears and BMB specimens were obtained from posterior superior iliac spine in the same sitting and stained with Leishman’s stain and Haematoxylin & Eosin stain respectively. Findings of BMA and BMB were compared. Results: BMA was diagnostic in all cases of iron deficiency anemia (IDA), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and essential thrombocythemia (ET). On the whole, BMA was diagnostic in 82.2% of cases and could accurately reveal hypercellularity in all cases. BMB was the only diagnostic method in myelofibrosis (MF) and provided additional information like fibrosis in cases of AML, CML and MF & pattern of involvement in CLL and multiple myeloma (MM). BMB, however, was poor in assessing iron stores due to leaching of iron during decalcification. Conclusions: BMA alone is sufficient for IDA and ITP. BMB is mandatory for diagnosis of MF and provides additional prognostic information in other cases.