TO DETERMINE THE ETIOLOGY AND FREQUENCY OF PANCYTOPENIA IN PEDIATRIC POPULATION AND COMPARE IT WITH OTHER STUDIES

ABSTRACT
Background: Peripheral pancytopenia is not a disease by itself; rather it describes simultaneous presence of anemia,
leucopenia and thrombocytopenia resulting from a number of disease processes1. Only a few systemic studies have
been published on the topic of pancytopenia, although extensive studies have been done for its different etiological
factors like aplastic anemia, megaloblastic anemia, leukemia etc.
Thus this study was carried out to find out the frequency of different causes of pancytopenia and to compare the findings
with those of other similar studies from this part of the world and worldwide.
Objective: To determine the etiology of pancytopenia on the basis of bone marrow examination in children from 1
month to 15 years.
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in the department of Paediatrics, Hayatabad Medical Complex,
Peshawar. it was an observational study. The study period started from January 2015 and ended on December 2015.
All patient aged 1 month to 15 years having pancytopenia on peripheral smear were included. Patients beyond this
age limits, already diagnosed cases, history of blood transfusion, patients on chemotherapy were excluded from the
study. History, physical and systemic examination and haemotological parameters at presentation were recorded.
Haemotological profile included peripheral smear and bone marrow aspiration/ biopsy.
Result: During the study period, out of 5,946 admission in the Paediatric Department of Hayatabad Medical Complex,
150 patients had pancytopenia on their peripheral blood smear (2.52%). Male to female ratio was 1.5: 1 and the nationalities
were Pakistani (60%) and Afghani (40%). The most common etiology was acute leukemia (26.65%), followed by
megaloblastic anemia (16.60%), aplastic anemia ( 13.20%), sepsis (8.00 %), Malaria (10.6 %), storage disorder Gaucher
disease (6%) and ITP (4%). A few cases of leishminiasis were also diagnosed. Clinical presentations were pallor,fever,
hemorrhages and hepatosplenomegaly.
Conclusion: Variation in etiology of pancytopenia is not only appreciated in different countries but also in different
regions of a single country. Hence documentation of variation in the etiology of pancytopenia has an important role in
formulating a comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, unique to pancytopenic patients of a particular region.