New Onset Pancytopenia in Adults: Clinico-etiological Profile at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate and compare common disorders leading to new onset pancytopenia among both genders. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted at the Department of Pathology Watim Medical College and Watim General Hospital Rawat from November 2020 to November 2021. A total of 98 adult patients with persistent pancytopenia of one week were selected. Blood complete picture with peripheral smears along with bone marrow aspiration biopsy were done. Trephine needle biopsy and cytochemical staining were performed when required. Results: There were 44 males and 54 female patients. Mean age was 43.49 ±19 years. Common presenting complaints were pallor (82.6%), weakness (63.2%), petechial hemorrhages (45.9%) and fever (23.5%). Mean hemoglobin value, white blood cell count and platelet count were 6.5± 1.65 g/dl, 3.20 ±1.43 x 109/L and 55.21 ±28.01 x 109/L respectively. Major causes were megaloblastic anemia with female predominance (p value: 0.003) in 43.8% patients, Aplastic anemia with male predominance (p value: 0.001) in 17.3%, portal hypertension induced splenomegaly in 13.2%, infectious diseases in 7%, leukemia in 5.1% and Myelodysplastic syndromes in 3.1%. Conclusion: Megaloblastic anemia is the major cause of pancytopenia in female and aplastic anemia in male pancytopenic patients.