Frequency of different causes of pancytopenia in a tertiary care hospital

To determine the frequency of different causes of pancytopenia on bone marrow examination. Descriptive 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. Total 67 cases of pancytopenia were included in the study. Bone marrow aspiration was done using 16 GLP needle and biopsy was done by using 11 G Trephine biopsy needle. 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. Major causes of pancytopenia in children were leishmaniasis and hypersplenism where as in adults they were megaloblastic anaemia and lymphoproliferative disorders