Mehwish Sajjad, Shaheen Kouser, Fatima Arshad, Ambreen Fatima, Mohammad Sohaib Tauheed, Saima Minhas, Mehreen Mehmood, Hira Qadir, Huma Mansoori.
Effectiveness of Bone Marrow Biopsy for the Diagnosis of Pyrexia of Unknown Cause.
Int J Endorsing Health Sci Res Jan ;9(1):48-54.

Background: Diagnosis of fever of unidentified cause remains challenging despite the availability of modern diagnostic techniques. Pyrexia of Unknown Origin (PUO) may result from various etiologies, among which infectious diseases are largely responsible. Many diagnostic approaches are currently applied. A detailed history with a complete general physical examination followed by baseline investigations with other specific tests like imaging, microbiological tests, and biopsies is employed to diagnose PUO. This study was designed for the evaluation and effectiveness of bone marrow biopsy in the identification of PUO and highlighted the existing spectrum of diseases involved in PUO. Methodology: This Cross-sectional study was conducted at Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi from 2015 to 2018 evaluated the records of patients who had bone marrow aspiration and biopsy Patients included in this study had a history of fever due to an Unfamiliar cause and met the Peters Dorf and Beeson criteria for PUO, i.e. fever for more than 3 weeks before diagnosis. Informed consent was taken from all patients. Results:  We analyzed the medical histories of 67 patients (48 males and 19 females) who were recommended bone marrow biopsy and aspiration for the assessment of PUO. The mean age was 38 years. The most common clinical symptoms found in patients of PUO were fever, hepato-splenomegaly followed by abdominal pain and weight loss. Anemia was the most common hematological parameter found in this study. The most frequent diagnosis in biopsies of PUO patients was Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in about 25% of patients. Conclusion: Certain laboratory and clinical parameters can detect major hematological diseases like malignancies when bone marrow biopsy is used for the workup of pyrexia of unknown origin. Bone marrow biopsy should be regarded as a constitutive part of the workup and diagnosis of pyrexia of unknown origin in conjunction with clinical findings.

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