Frequency of Different Causes of Pancytopenia in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: To determine the frequency of different causes of pancytopenia on bone marrow examination. Study Design: Descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at Haematology (pathology) department of Army Medical College, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) and Military Hospital Rawalpindi from Jan 2012 – Dec 2012. Patients and Methods: Total 67 cases of pancytopenia were included in the study. Bone marrow aspiration was done using 16 G LP needle and biopsy was done by using 11 G Trephine biopsy needle. Results: Out of 67 patients, (15%) were children and (52%) were adults. Among children leishmaniasis and hypersplenism were the most common causes (20%) of pancytopenia followed by acute leukemia (3.8%), aplastic anaemia (6.7%) and megaloblastic anaemia (6.7%). Among adults megaloblastic anaemia was the most common cause (40.4%) followed by lymphoproliferative disorder (15.4%), hypersplenism (7.7%), aplastic anaemia, megaloblastic anaemia, acute leukemia and myelodysplasia. Conclusion: Major causes of pancytopenia in children were leishmaniasis and hypersplenism where as in adults they were megaloblastic anaemia and lymphoproliferative disorders.