DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v05i04.071

Pages: 1598-1605

Pancytopenia is a relatively common entity. However, it has received inadequate attention in the Indian subcontinent. A study of pancytopenia using easily available diagnostic techniques is therefore relevant. Bone marrow aspiration (BMA) and biopsy is an important diagnostic tool in hematology to evaluate various causes of pancytopenia. The present study was conducted on 48 patients for a period of 2 years from June 2011 to May 2013. Complete evaluation of clinical findings, haematological indices and bone marrow examination was carried out. Megalo blastic anaemia (41.66%) was the most common cause of pancytopenia, followed by mixed nutritional anaemia (29.16%), Multiple myeloma and metastatic deposits contributed the least with 01 case each (2.09%). Macrocytic anaemia was the predominant finding observed when studying peripheral smears, and a few cases of normocytic or microcytic anaemia were observed. Hypercellular marrow was seen in 56.25% of cases, whereas hypocellular marrow was present in 6.25% of cases. Female patients were 29 and male were 19 in our study. Pancytopenia is an important clinico haematological entity encountered in our day-to-day clinical practice. The possible underlying aetiologies range from transient viral marrow suppression to life-threatening malignant neoplasm. The aetiological diagnosis is essential for the clinical management and prognosis of the patient.