A Spectrum of Hematological Disorders in Children Presented With Pancytopenia at Assiut University Hospital

Pancytopenia is a condition in which there is a decrease of all the three cellular elements of blood, namely erythrocytes, leukocytes, and platelets . It is quite a common finding among children. According to regional studies, it makes up around 2.90% to 3.57% of the burden of presentations in the pediatric population. Some of the presenting symptoms include, but are not limited to, pallor, fever, weight loss, dyspnea, bleeding, bruising, visceromegaly, and increased risk of infections .

Pancytopenia is not a disease in itself but a laboratory finding of the constitution of diseases. It can occur due to a variety of disorders which can be as simple as nutritional deficiencies to serious malignant disorders . Megaloblastic anemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia are among the most common presentations of pancytopenia.

Pancytopenia results in a hypoplastic bone marrow. It is diagnosed on the basis of the complete blood count test. Pancytopenia is labeled when the hemoglobin (hb) is less than 10 gm%, absolute neutrophil count (anc) is less than 1.5*109/l, and platelet count is less than 100*109/l [9].

But, in order to find out the etiological factor causing pancytopenia, bone marrowexamination is done. Being an interventional procedure, it is relatively safe with little or no risk of bleeding.

Etiology of pancytopenia The etiology of pancytopenia can be broadly categorized as a central type that involves disorders of production or a peripheral type that involves disorders of increased destruction.These causes could contribute to the pancytopenia independently or as a combination.