Prevalence of bone marrow necrosis in Egyptian cancer patients referring to the National Cancer Institute

الملخص EN

Background : bone marrow necrosis is a relatively rare entity which has been associated with a poor prognosis.

It is most commonly found in patients with neoplastic disorders and severe infections.

Methods : the study comprised examination of 5043 bone marrow biopsy specimens performed at the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, over 7 years period (March 2004–March 2011).

It included 5 years retrospective (2867 archived samples) and 2 years prospective (2176 samples).

Results : bone marrow necrosis was diagnosed in fifteen out of 5043 examined specimens with a percentage of 0.3 % and ranged from mild to massive according to semiquantitative estimation.

Prognosis of all patients was poor with survival not exceeding 6 months from the date of marrow necrosis diagnosis.

Conclusion : in Egyptian patients, bone marrow necrosis in association with malignancy is a rare disorder which is accompanied by a poor outcome.