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Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Bone Marrow Smear - How to Interpret

Systematic Approach: 

1. Adequacy -  A good smear shows fat, spicules, and cellular material.


2. Cellularity - Compare hematopoietic cells to fat spaces.

Age-related norms: Cellularity ≈ 100 – age (±10%) (e.g., 40-year-old → ~60% cellularity).

- Hypocellular (e.g., aplastic anemia, marrow suppression).

- Hypercellular (e.g., leukemia, myeloproliferative disorders).


3. E:M/ ratio: erythroid precursors : myeloid precursors ≈ 1:2 to 1:4

- E:M ↑Erythroid Hyperplasia: hemolysis, thalassemia

- E:M ↓Myeloid Hyperplasia/Erythroid Hypoplasia: infections, CML, myeloproliferative neoplasms


4. Erythropoesis:

- Maturation steps: Proerythroblasts → basophilic normoblasts → orthochromatic normoblasts.

- Abnormalities:

Dyserythropoiesis: multinuclearity, nuclear budding, irregular chromatin.

Increased erythropoiesis: hemolytic anemias, blood loss.

Decreased erythrpoiesis: aplastic anemia, marrow infiltration.


5. Myelopoiesis/Granulopoiesis: 

- Maturation stages: myeloblasts → promyelocytes → myelocytes → metamyelocytes → bands → neutrophils.

- Look for:

Left shift (immature forms) → infections, leukemias.

Dysgranulopoiesis: hypolobation, hypogranularity.

Blasts >20% = acute leukemia (per WHO).


6. Megakaryopoesis: Normally present in small numbers, large cells with multilobed nuclei.

- Look for:

Increased: myeloproliferative neoplasms (e.g., essential thrombocythemia).

Decreased/absent: aplastic anemia, marrow failure.

Dysplastic forms: micromegakaryocytes, separated nuclei → myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).


7Other Cells

- Plasma cells: normally <5%. Increased in plasma cell disorders (e.g., multiple myeloma).

Lymphocytes: scattered, small.

Histiocytes/macrophages: may be seen with hemophagocytosis.

Mast cells: few normally, increased in mastocytosis.


8. Special Features

- Blasts: count percentage (critical for leukemia diagnosis).

Fibrosis: suggested if “dry tap” on aspiration → confirmed by biopsy.

- Infiltration: metastatic tumors, storage diseases (e.g., Gaucher cells).

Iron stores (on Prussian blue stain)

a. Normal, increased (anemia of chronic disease), decreased (iron deficiency).

b. Ring sideroblasts → sideroblastic anemia, MDS.

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