Abstract

Study of Pancytopenia in a Tertiary Care Hospital in North Karnataka

Introduction: Pancytopenia refers to the combination of anaemia, leukopenia and thrombocytopenia. Causes may be due to bone marrow failure, bone marrow infiltration, ineffective haematopoiesis or peripheral pooling/ destruction. A bone marrow aspirate is usually required to establish the diagnosis. Aetiologies of pancytopenia vary from one geographical region to other. Aim: Study of pancytopenia in patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in north Karnataka. Methods: This study was conducted at SNMC and HSK, Bagalkot. This study was prospective, observational undertaken for 6-month period between July 2016-January 2017. History, physical examination, and primary blood investigations were done in all patients. Selected patients were evaluated with bone marrow examination. Materials: A total of 69 human subjects were enrolled. A thorough history, clinical examination and blood investigations were carried out. Results: Dimorphic anaemia is common than megaloblastic anaemia. Among those subjected for bone marrow megaloblastic anaemia was commoner than dual deficiency bone marrow. Other causes of pancytopenia were malaria, dengue, enteric fever, and less common causes included sepsis, MDS, TB, HIV, SLE. Conclusion: Nutritional anaemia is commonest cause for pancytopenia. This may be due to megaloblastic anaemia or deficiency of iron/vitamin B12/folate combined.

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