F. Girodon et al., Minor dysplastic changes are frequently observed in the bone marrow aspirate in elderly patients without haematological disease, CLIN LAB H, 23(5), 2001, pp. 297-300
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.