BONE MARROW BIOPSY -
Verb: In all patients with aplastic anaemia or myelodysplasia , a sample of bone, and bone marrow will be required. This involves obtaining a small amount of marrow from inside the bone with a needle and a sample of the bone itself showing the structure of the bone marrow cavity (small holes in the bone where the bone marrow grows). This is called a Bone Marrow Aspirate . The small piece of bone is called a bone marrow trephine. The samples used are usually obtained from the back of the hip bone. The procedure causes some discomfort but does not take very long. The procedure is usually carried out with sedation as well as local anaesthetic. It may be necessary to sample more than one site in aplastic anaemia or myelodysplasia to confirm that there is no other bone marrow disease present.

The main bone marrow finding which defines aplastic anaemia is that the few blood producing cells which are present, appear normal. The cells in aplastic anaemia do not show chromosome abnormalities.

In myelodysplasia or myelofibrosis , the numbers of blood producing cells are considerably reduced. The cells which are present in the bone marrow in these diseases are very abnormal under the microscope.

These are some red blood cells from a patient with Myelodysplasia. They are larger than normal and very irregular.

This site looks much better in a browser that supports current web standards, but it is accessible to any browser. Download one now