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Spurious dyserythropoiesis

Li Juan Wang1, Lewis Glasser

  • 1Department of Pathology, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence 02903, USA.

American Journal of Clinical Pathology
|January 16, 2002
PubMed

Insights

Storage of bone marrow aspirates in EDTA causes artifactual dyserythropoiesis, mimicking myelodysplastic syndromes. Refrigerated storage significantly inhibits these changes, preserving diagnostic accuracy.

Area of Science:

  • Hematology
  • Clinical Pathology

Background:

  • Bone marrow aspirates collected in EDTA are crucial for diagnosing hematologic disorders.
  • Storage conditions can introduce artifacts that may confound diagnostic interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the occurrence and severity of dyserythropoiesis as a storage artifact in EDTA-treated bone marrow aspirates.
  • To evaluate the impact of different storage temperatures (room vs. refrigerated) on these artifacts.

Main Methods:

  • Bone marrow samples from 7 non-myelodysplastic patients were collected in EDTA.
  • Specimens were stored at room temperature (20-24°C) or refrigerated (1-6°C).
  • Samples were examined for dyserythropoiesis at 0, 1, 2, and 3 days post-collection.

Main Results:

  • Storage at room temperature led to a significant increase in dyserythropoietic changes over time.
  • Both nuclear and cytoplasmic alterations were observed, with cytoplasmic vacuoles increasing from 1.1% to 35.6% and nuclear shape changes to 12.85% by day 3.
  • After just one day of room temperature storage, changes were sufficient to impede myelodysplastic syndrome diagnosis.

Conclusions:

  • Dyserythropoiesis observed in EDTA-treated bone marrow aspirates can be a storage artifact.
  • Refrigerated storage significantly inhibits the development of these artifacts, aiding in accurate diagnosis.
  • Proper sample handling and storage are critical to avoid misdiagnosis of myelodysplastic syndromes.

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