THE CRITICAL ROLE OF BONE MARROW STUDYAND IMMUNOPHENOTYPING IN THE EVALUATION OFANAEMIA OF UNDETERMINED ETIOLOGY; CASE PRESENTATION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Volume 10 Number 3 - 4 July - December 2022
1Chukwudi O. Okani, 2John Aneke, 3Prince Ele, 4 Uchenna Eke
Marrow infiltration by cancer is a known cause of anaemia, and the diagnosis and management are often without difficulty. However, in some cases, the primary source of malignancy may be elusive with unexplained anaemia as the most important presenting complaint. We report a case of a 71-year old male who presented to hospital with shortness of breath, generalized body weakness, poor appetite, marked weight loss and low haematocrit (of 0.20 L/L), low corrected reticulocyte count (0.4%), mild reduction in all cell lines (with normal morphology) as well as mildly hypochromic, microcytic red cells on peripheral blood film examination. Bone marrow studies revealed infiltration by malignant carcinoma. This finding led to the diagnosis of marrow infiltration by carcinoma; histology and immunophenotyping subsequently confirmed the prostate as the primary site. A definitive diagnosis of myelophthisic anaemia secondary to prostate carcinoma was thus made and patient was consequently referred to the urology team for further management.
10.47837/cmj.19770126.nma.20164347123
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