Evaluation of hematological profile in pulmonary tuberculosis

Introduction: Tuberculosis not only affects lungs but also the bone marrow and causes significant haematological abnormalities such as anaemia in 93.8%, leucoytosis in 22.3%, neutrophilia in 45.2%, lymphopenia in 4.8%, decreased platelet count and also elevated ESR in the patients. This study was carried out to explore the early changes in the haematological profile of TB patients which will aid in identification of hematological risk factors and also help in minimizing the risk of transmission among vulnerable groups. Materials and Methods: A total of 40 newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients and 60 healthy controls were selected by purposive sampling in this case control study. About 4 ml of venous blood was collected with aseptic precautions. About 2 ml in EDTA tube was used for haematological analysis using Sysmex KX 21 haematology analyser as well as for peripheral smear examination. The remaining 2 ml blood was used for determining ESR by Westergren tube method. Results: The Haemoglobin, PCV, RBC count, MCV, MCH values were significantly lower compared to healthy controls in both sexes and were found to be statistically significant (p-value platelet count was within normal range, the count was significantly lower among the cases compared to controls. The total leukocyte, ESR values were significantly higher in both sexes compared to controls and the difference was statistically significant (p-value Conclusion: Our study calls for a prospective analysis of the hematological profiles with respect to the management of tuberculosis in order to derive candid guidelines for clinical case management. Keywords: Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate, Haematology, Peripheral smear, Tuberculosis.