Evaluation of disease spectrum diagnosed with bone marrow biopsy at a tertiary healthcare center in Turkey Hematological diseases spectrum diagnosed with bone marrow biopsy

Aim: Bone marrow examination (BME) is commonly implemented to diagnose hemato-oncological diseases. There are only a few reports on diseases diagnosed via the BME and diagnostic yield in patients who applied to the hematology department This study aimed to identify the primary indications and diagnoses of BME in patients who underwent bone marrow biopsy at Dokuz Eylul University in Turkey. Material and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed demographic and laboratory data of 505 patients from January 2014 to September 2021. The cases under the age of 18 years were excluded. The patients were also stratified according to demographic data and diagnoses. Results: Among the 505 bone marrow biopsies (BMB) studied, 386 (76.4%) procedures were performed to evaluate suspected malignancy and 119 (23.6%) for non-malignant indications. The primary indications for BME were: cytopenia (117,23.2%), plasma cell neoplasm (PCN) (94, 18.6%), and myeloproliferative neoplasms (93, 18.4%). The most common diagnoses among all patients were PCN (110, 21.8%). Non-malignant outcomes comprised 3.2% of the total outcomes with 16 cases, of which thrombocytopenia due to peripheral destruction (immune thrombocytopenia) was the most common with eight (1.6%) patients. The majority of patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome and CLL were seen in patients aged 65 years and older. Discussion: There is little published literature on the bone marrow profile, especially in geriatric patients. The higher incidence of hematological diseases in patients under 65 years of age can be attributed to more common BME procedures, which leads to earlier diagnosis.