Seksenbeş Yaş ve Üzerindeki İleri Yaşlı Hastalarda Kemik İliği Değerlendirilmesi: Endikasyonlar, Morbidite ve Tanı

As a result of the population aging, the incidence of both hematologic and non-hematologic diseases of elderly gets higher, requiring bone marrow (BM) aspirations and biopsies be implemented also in the geriatric patients. Our aim in this study is to address BM examination in the geriatric patients aged 85 and over, describing its indications and morbidity and discussing the established diagnoses and outcomes of applied therapies based on BM examinations in comparison to the available literature which is actually limited in number particularly in this patient group. We have retrospectively reviewed the BM aspiration/biopsy results of 114 patients aged ≥ 85 years who were followed-up by hematology department of a university hospital from 2010 to 2020. The patients were selected through the internal data handling system of the hospital using the entry codes corresponding to BM aspiration and biopsy and those at the age of 85 or older were identified. Demographic features, primary diagnosis, any comorbidities, complete blood count (CBC) details, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), red blood cell indices, C-reactive protein (CRP), serum ferritin, vitamin B12, and folic acid levels, any abnormal results in serum biochemistry testing, the indication(s) for and the result(s) from BM aspiration/biopsy, and the treatments applied based on those result(s) were recorded for each patient as well as the rates of and reasons for mortality. In our cohort of 114 patients with a mean age of 86.3±1.7 (85-93) years, 64.9% (n=74) were males. None of the patients experienced any serious complication during BM aspiration and biopsy. First three indications in our cohort for BM aspiration/biopsy in decreasing order of frequency were cytopenia in 48.2% (n=55), anemia + elevated ESR in 18.4% (n=21), and leukocytosis + anemia + thrombocytopenia in 15.8% (n=18). BM aspiration/biopsy results gave rise to a pathologic or hematologic diagnosis in 85.9% (n=98) and 78.9% (n=90) of patients, respectively. Most frequent hematologic malignancies were myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and multiple myeloma (MM). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed hemoglobin (Hb) and LDH levels as prognostic factors with an impact on mortality. Prognostic factors with an impact on mortality based on multivariate stepwise Cox regression analysis, on the other hand, were uric (p= 0.018, hazard ratio (HR)= 1.134, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.022-1.258), LDH (p=0.092, HR=1.001, 95% CI= 1.000-1.002), and platelet levels (p=0.007, HR=1.000, 95% CI=1.000-1.000). BM examination should definitely be performed in patients aged ≥ 85 years, particularly in the event of cytopenia, unexplained anemia, and elevated ESR both for diagnostic purposes and to prolong life expectancy through administration of modified therapies depending on the performance status. In such patients uric acid, LDH and platelet levels should be closely followed-up as independent prognostic variables which effect mortality.