Comparative evaluation of simultaneous bone marrow aspiration and bone marrow biopsy: an institutional experience

Bone marrow aspirations and bone marrow biopsies are important diagnostic procedures. A comparative study of both the procedures done simultaneously was retrospectively reviewed in 160 cases where the clinical history is correlated with BMA and BMB results. The advantage of each method is analyzed. Correlation of our findings with that given in the literature is done to give a guideline for both techniques. We have found that 61.25% of the cases showed a positive correlation between bone marrow aspiration and bone marrow biopsy. However, we found that tuberculous granulomas and Hodgkin disease involvement of the marrow were detected better in bone marrow biopsies. The advantage of both the procedures done together provided more material and enabled us to study the cytomorphology of the cells, with the pattern of distribution of the cells depending on the cases. However, when both the procedures are done simultaneously, a proper technique is required so as to yield good diagnostic material.