Clinico-etiological spectrum of pancytopenia in hospitalized children

Background: Pancytopenia is not uncommon in children, having multiple cause varying from transient marrow suppression to leukaemia. There is little discussion regarding pancytopenia in pediatric population especially in South East Asia.Methods: It was a cross-sectional, observational study GSVM Medical College, Kanpur, UP, India from January 2011 to august 2012. All patients admitted between 1-18 years age group presenting with pancytopenia were included for the study. A detailed clinical history and physical examination was done. Bone marrow examination (aspiration) to confirm a particular etiology / or to support a diagnosis.Results: Incidence of Pancytopenia was 2.9% , Most of the patients (30.5%) were in the 13-15 years age group. The common causes were megaloblastic anemia (47%), aplastic anemia (25.8%) and leukemia (17.6%). Common clinical presentation was pallor (81%), fever (68%) and petechial haemorrhages (51%).Conclusions: Pancytopenia is a common medical condition in children, the mean age of presentation being 10.63±4.60 years. There should be high index of suspicion for pancytopenia and early intervention should be done as most the cases are preventable.