Bone Marrow Involvement in Non Hematological Disorders – An Institutional Experience

Objective: To find out the frequency of involvement of bone marrow by non – haematological disorders in our institution and to evaluate the role of bone marrow aspiration and biopsy in diagnosing these disorders. Materials & Methods: It was a retrospective study that extended from January 2013 to December 2016. A total of 339 bone marrow aspirates and trephine biopsies were performed during this period. Only the non haematological disorders were studied and their clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded . Peripheral blood picture was studied. Bone marrow aspiration smears & biopsies were evaluated. Results: During the study period, 29 patients were diagnosed to have nonhaematological disorders which constituted 8.5% of the total patients who had undergone bone marrow examination. The age of patients at time of procedure ranged from 3 years to 84years, with male to female ratio of 2.2 :1. Anemia was the most frequent clinical finding followed by fever and weight loss. In adults, metastatic tumors were the commonest non hematological condition diagnosed on bone marrow examination. In children also, metastatic tumors were the commonest non-hematological disease. Conclusion: Metastatic solid tumors were the frequent non-hematologic disorders involving bone marrow in both adults and pediatric patients . Hence, bone marrow examination can be a safe, easy and useful laboratory tool in the diagnosis of various metastatic malignancies and other disorders like granulomatous lesions.