The Medical Journal of Basrah University

Abstract

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the role of histopathological examination of paraffin embedded marrow clot sections in the diagnosis of different neoplastic and non-neoplastic marrow diseases, and whether these sections can replace the need for performing bone marrow trephine biopsy.
Methods: Patients included in the study are those with clinical manifestations of hematological disorders who were subjected to peripheral blood examination, marrow aspirate cytology with complimentary bone marrow trephine and marrow clot biopsy. Along with marrow aspiration, the blood left behind after preparing marrow smears, was used to prepare paraffin embedded histological clot sections. The results for 114 patients were analyzed simultaneously for their concordance to highlight the usefulness of marrow clot sections in the diagnosis of different diseases affecting the bone marrow. Immunohistochemical stains were used whenever indicated to obtain additional diagnostic information.
Results: Marrow clot sections were diagnostic and concordant with the complete blood count, marrow aspirates and trephines in 63% of the cases. While trephines were unconvincing in another 15.7% of the cases, the clot sections were diagnostic. In 1.7% of the cases, the clot sections and trephines were diagnostic while marrow aspirates were inconclusive, thus in 81% of the cases, marrow clot sections provided the diagnosis and replacing the need for performing trephine biopsy. However, trephine biopsy is still considered necessary in 19 % of the cases in whom the clot sections are of poor quality and unconvincing
Conclusion: In most of the cases clot sections can replace the need for trephine biopsy, but trephine biopsy is still required in other cases. The clot sections are useful as an adjuvant procedure to increase the diagnostic yield in marrow studies. Because it is difficult to expect which patients will be diagnosed by clot sections and which will need trephine biopsy, it is advisable to perform both trephine and clot biopsy together with the marrow aspirates.