Aetiology of pancytopenia: Experience of a South African tertiary academic centre

Background

Pancytopenia is a manifestation of numerous disease entities. The causes of pancytopenia differ with geographic region, socio-economic factors and HIV prevalence. Awareness of the common causes of pancytopenia may aid timely diagnosis.

Objective

This study aimed to determine the aetiology of pancytopenia in a South African population.

Methods

A retrospective observational study of adult patients presenting with pancytopenia at Tygerberg Academic Hospital, South Africa, from January 2016 to December 2017 was performed. Data on pancytopenia cases were obtained from the laboratory information system and utilised to determine the causes of pancytopenia.

Results

A total of 673 cases of pancytopenia were identified. The most common causes of pancytopenia were chemoradiation therapy (25%), sepsis (18%), haematological malignancy (9%), advanced HIV (7%), and megaloblastic anaemia (6%). The diagnostic yield of bone marrow examinations (BME) was 57% (n = 52/91). The aetiology of pancytopenia differed according to age, with malignancy being a more common cause of pancytopenia among the elderly.

Conclusion

Several easily recognisable and treatable conditions can manifest as pancytopenia. Prompt management of such conditions, notably sepsis and megaloblastic anaemia, can result in the resolution of the cytopenias and negate the need for a BME. However, haematological malignancy and unexplained pancytopenia strongly rely on a BME to establish a diagnosis. Pancytopenia investigations, when guided by appropriate clinic-laboratory findings, can promptly identify the underlying aetiology, while also identifying cases where an expedited BME is required. This is valuable in resource-conscious medicine.

Frequency and Etiology of Pancytopenia in Patients Admitted to a Tertiary Care Hospital in Karachi

Introduction

Pancytopenia is an important hematologic problem encountered frequently in clinical practice characterized by a reduction in all three peripheral blood cell lineages, i.e., anemia, leucopenia, and thrombocytopenia, caused by myriad disease processes. Our study aimed to determine the frequency and etiology of pancytopenia in patients admitted under internal medicine services in a tertiary care hospital.

Method

This cross-sectional study was conducted in the in-patient internal medicine department, The Indus Hospital (TIH), Karachi, included 258 patients. To be eligible, participants had to give informed consent, be 14 years or older, and of either sex. The study involved a 20-30-minute interaction with the patient, involving an interview and physical examination, and access to electronic health record data.

Results

Out of 258 patients studied, 24 (9.3%) were diagnosed with pancytopenia, the male to female ratio was 1:1, no significant difference was observed in the proportion of ethnicity, religion, previous treatment, known infectious disease, and personal and occupational exposure among pancytopenic patients and other non-pancytopenic patients. Fever (n=14, 58.3%) was most common presenting complaint followed by fatigue (n=13, 54.2%) and weight loss (n=7, 29.2%) while most common signs were pallor (87.5% n=21), hepatomegaly (29.2%, n=7), and splenomegaly (25%, n=6). The most common cause of pancytopenia was megaloblastic anemia (n=10, 41.7%), followed by hypersplenism (n=4, 16.6%), acute infectious diseases (n=3, 12.5%), and autoimmune diseases (n=3, 12.5%).

Conclusion

Our study suggests that pancytopenia is a common finding among our patient population and a larger proportion has a treatable cause, thus carrying a favorable prognosis.