Value of Bone Marrow Examination in Diagnosis of Patients Having Different Types of Fever at A Tertiary Care Hospital of Rawalpindi

Abstract

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To highlight the importance of bone marrow examination in order to assess different causes of fever especially pyrexia of unknown origin. STUDY DESIGN: It was a Descriptive cross sectional study. PLACE OF STUDY: The study was conducted at Haematology Department of Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The retrospective information was gathered from the record saved in the official departmental registers. The data from June 2005 to June 2010 was included in the study. Both the males and females having the history of fever were included in the study. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 16.The frequency of occurrence of specific diseases was calculated in terms of percentages, while the mean values were calculated for ages and duration of illness. RESULTS: Chronic disorders (20.1%), followed by myelofibrosis (7.6%), and metastatic infiltrations (6.5%) are amongst the most common causes of PUO. Chronic disorders (33.12%) followed by mixed deficiency anaemia (15.95%) and megaloblastic anaemia (11.65%) were amongst the common causes of high grade fever. While chronic disorders (35.8%) followed by mixed deficiency anaemia (16.21%) were the common causes of low grade fever. The intermittent pattern of fever was found to be associated with underlying chronic disorders (28.26%) followed by mixed deficiency anaemia (13.86%). CONCLUSION: Bone marrow examination should be considered in the early course of illness especially when other laboratory studies yielding the negative results.