Etiological and Clinical Spectrum of Pancytopenia Based on Peripheral Blood Smear and Bone Marrow Examination: A Cross-sectional Study
Vipin Porwal *
Department of Medicine, R.D. Gardi Medical College Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Rajesh Deshpande
Department of Medicine, R.D. Gardi Medical College Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Rohit Modi
Department of Medicine, R.D. Gardi Medical College Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: Pancytopenia is a common clinic-haematological problem suspected in patients with anaemia, prolonged fever, and a bleeding tendency. This study was performed to find the prevalence of pancytopenia and to determine the common causes of pancytopenia.
Study Design: Cross-sectional observational study.
Place and Duration of Study: department of general medicine at R. D. Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, India between November 2017 toAugust 2019.
Methodology: The study was conducted among patients with pancytopenia during a two-year period. The etiological pattern was assessed through routine blood tests to determine their clinical features, peripheral blood pictures, and bone marrow morphologies.
Results: Out of 100 patients with pancytopenia, the majority (64.0%) were men. A total of 34 patients were aged between the 21 and 30 years and 28 were aged between 31 and 40 years. Generalized weakness was the most common (88%) presentation and the most common clinical finding was pallor (94.0%), followed by splenomegaly (40.0%) and hepatomegaly (30.0%). Megaloblastic anaemia was the most common cause of pancytopenia that was observed in 58 patients, followed by aplastic anaemia (n=12), cirrhosis of the liver (n=8), leukaemia (n=6), dengue, myelodysplastic syndrome, and malaria (n=4 each), paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (n=2 each). A total of 28.0% patients had normocellular bone marrow and 72.0% had cellular marrow.
Conclusion: Megaloblastic anaemia was the most common aetiology of pancytopenia.
Keywords: Pancytopenia, peripheral blood smear, bone marrow examination, cross-sectional study