Fine needle aspiration sampling of bone marrow for DNA flow cytometric analysis

Fine needle aspiration (FNA) was used to obtain bone marrow samples from 57 patients with a variety of hematologic disorders, and from three normal subjects. We confirm that the technique is well tolerated and show that reliable cytokinetic and cell differential data can be obtained provided marrow fragments are isolated for analysis. This requires aspiration of a larger volume of marrow than originally described but this can still be achieved with minimal discomfort to the patient. The technique thus provides a means by which marrow samples could be obtained at frequent intervals in the monitoring of chemotherapy.