Minor dysplastic changes are frequently observed in the bone marrow aspirate in elderly patients without haematological disease

Bone marrow aspirates were obtained by sternal puncture prior to sternotomy in 54 volunteers (40 males and 14 females) aged 60 years or more. All unde rwent surgery for cardiological diseases and had normal blood counts, witho ut any haematological abnormalities. Quantitative examination of these bone marrow aspirates yielded reference ranges for each cell type similar to th ose obtained in younger adults. However, qualitative analysis revealed cert ain discrepancies: dysplastic changes were observed frequently, mainly in m egakaryocytes and erythroblasts, with a normal growth pattern of haematopoi etic progenitor cells, A low proportion of macrophages and mast cells were noted in 30% of the bone marrow aspirates. Lymphoid aggregates, seen in 13% , of these samples, were generally of moderate size, contained few mast cel ls and were non-clonal on immunophenotypic analysis.