2. BONE MARROW
Bone marrow examination is an indispensable
adjunct to the study of diseases of the blood
and may be the only way in which a correct
diagnosis can be made.
3. 1905 Pianese Trephine bx in an infant with Leishmaniasis.
1909 Pianese Tibia & femur marrow aspiration with
attached syringe.
1923 Seyfaith Surgical trephine to obtain marrow from
ribs & sternum.But there was excessive
bleeding.
1927 Airinkin Eliminated trephine complication by using
short lumbar needle.
1945 Vanderberg First obtained marrow from iliac creast.
1952 Bierman Used posterior Iliac creast for biopsy
HISTORY
4. 1. Bone marrow aspiration
2. Clot section
3. Bone marrow biopsy
4. Biopsy imprint smears
5. INDICATIONS OF BONE MARROW ASPIRATION
• Red cell disorders
• Leucocytic disorders
• Megakaryocyte and platelet disorders
• Myeloproliferative disorders and myelodysblastic
syndrome with BMB
• Paraproteinemias
• Infection
• Storage disorders
• Iron assessment
• Metastasis
8. 5. Unexplained leukoerythroblastic picture.
6. In suspected cases of multiple myeloma and serum
paraproteins.
7. Diagnosis and staging of
Non hodgkin’s lymphoma
Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Malignancy
Metastatic carcinoma
Small round cell tumors of childhood
8. Stromal changes
Fibrosis
Necrosis
Gelatinous marrow transformation
9. 9. Pyrexia of unknown origin
10. Focal lesions –Metastasis, Granuloma
11.Amyloidosis
12.Metabolic bone diseases
13.To assess the mineralisation front and appositional
growth after tetracycline labeling
10. CONTRADICATIONS
Sternal aspirate-osteoporosis and children
Biopsy in coagulopathies
(For aspiration factor replacement therapy
prior to procedure and observation should be
done for next 24-48 hrs.)
11. COMPLICATIONS
Hemorrhage
(Risk factors- coagulopathies,
myeloproliferative disorders, aspirin and
warfarin therapy, thrombocytopenia, DIC, liver
disease and disease)
Pain
Infection
Perforation of major vessels
Risk of general anaesthesia and sedation.
12. BONE MARROW ASPIRATE V/S BIOPSY
Aspiration biopsy and trephine biopsy are
complementary to each other.
Better cytological detail.
More range for
cytochemical stains,
flowcytometry and IHC.
Ideal for cytogenetics
and molecular genetics.
Topographical details,
cellularity and
infiltration.
Less range.
Can be used for both.
13. Dry tap in fibrosis
Can be performed alone in
iron deficiency anemia,
anemia of chronic
disease , megaloblastic
anemia and acute
leukaemia.
Less painful
Essential for diagnosis
in dry tap.
Helpful for aplastic
hypoplastic anaemia,
lymphoma, metastatic
carcinoma,
myeloproliferative
neoplasms and
diseases of the bones.
More painful
14. IMPORTANCE OF TOUCH/ IMPRINT
SMEAR
Gives cytological details when aspirate is not
obtained.
Shows more neoplastic cells than aspirate.
Can show marrow infiltration , not seen in
aspirate
15. IMPORTANCE OF CLOT SECTION
Assessment of bone marrow cellularity.
For detecting granuloma and tumour infiltrates
complementary to biopsy.
No decalcification associated nucleic acid or
protein damage.
16. SITE FOR ASPIRATION
1. Posterior superior iliac spine- most preferred.
2. Anterior superior iliac spine. (The iliac spines have the
advantage that if no material is aspirated, a trephine biopsy can be
performed immediately.)
3. Sternum (abt 1cm above the sternomanubrial
angle,to one side of midline). (avoided in babies)
4. Medial aspect of tibia just below tibial tubercle
(small babies).
5. Spinous process of vertebrae
17. 1. Posterior superior iliac spine- most
preferred.
2. Anterior superior iliac spine.
The posterior iliac spine is said to provide samples that are
longer and larger, and the aspiration is less uncomfortable for
the patient.
18. Needles should be stout and made of hard
stainless steel, about 7-8 cm in length, with
a well-fitting stilette, and they must be
provided with an adjustable guard.
1. Jamshidi needle
2. Islam needle
3. Salah needle
4. Klima needle
19. If larger specimens are needed, trephine
needles that have bores of 4-5 mm may be
used.
Other needles occasionally used for trephine
biopsy specimens are a 2-mm bore
“microtrephine” needle and a Vim–Silverman
needle.
However, compared with other needles, these
yield smaller specimens of marrow that are
prone to fracturing.
20. a: STYLET b : BORE c : PROBE
The tip gradually widens for next 2cm and then uniform bore the needle.The
marrow biopsy does not get compressed because of narrow cutting edges and
hence cell morhology is well made out.
JAMSHIDI NEEDLE
21. ISLAM
NEEDLEA modified version of the Islam needle has multiple holes in the distal
portion of the shaft in addition to the opening at the tip to overcome
sampling error when the marrow is not uniformly involved in a
pathological lesion.
23. PROCEDURE
Consent- an written consent should be taken from
patient.
• An appropriate clinical history should accompany
the bone marrow, as they relate to possible
findings within the bone marrow examination.
24. It is useful to know relevant laboratory data
such as Iron studies, Folate or Vitamin B-12
studies, transfusion therapy, hematinics or
history of chemotherapy.
The physician’s clinical impression should be
included on the form.
Lignocaine sensitivity test should be done.
25. Either aspirate or biopsy may be performed first.
But the two should be performed through the
same incision, approx. 0.5-1 cm away from the
other.
This is done to avoid clotting of aspirate and
hemorrhagic or damaged biopsy.
It is recommended that the aspirate and biopsy
be obtained using respective needles separately,
and not through a trephine needle.
26. • Operator should wear Surgical gloves
• Skin at the site should be cleaned with 70%
alcohol or 0.5% chlorhexidine.
• Infiltrate the skin, s/c tissue and periosteum
over the site with 2-5ml of lignocaine.
• Children are either sedated or given general
anaesthesia.
27. With boring movement pass the needle
perpendicularly at center of PSIS.
When bone has been penetrated, remove the
stilette, attach 30 ml syringe and suck up
marrow contents (0.3ml) for making smears
immediately.
28. If large sample is needed for cytogenetics and
immunophenotyping attach another 5 or 10 ml
syringe and aspirate.
(should be kept in preservative free heparin than in EDTA)
• Fix the slides in absolute methanol (20 min) as
soon as they are thoroughly dry for subsequent
staining by a Romanowsky method or Perls' stain
for iron.
29. The preparation can be considered satisfactory
only when marrow particles and free marrow
cells can be seen in stained films.
These films are also suitable for cytochemical
staining.
30. Some material (clots) can be preserved in
fixative rather than anticoagulant for preparation
of histological sections.
(clot section).
Clot is processed same as bone marrow biopsy
but without decalcification
• Peripheral blood sample is also taken along with
it.
31. • Dry tap- Failure to aspirate marrow (suggests
bone marrow fibrosis or infiltration.)
• If there has been a “dry tap,” insert the
stilette into the needle and push any material
in the lumen of the needle onto a slide; in
lymphomas and carcinomas, especially,
sufficient material can be obtained to make a
diagnosis.
• CT–guided marrow sampling-obese, in whom
it is difficult to locate the iliac spine.
33. EXAMINATION OF ASPIRATED BONE
MARROW
Low power (10x)
Determine cellularity
Identify megakaryocytes and note
morphology and maturation sequence
(higher power may be needed for smaller immature megakaryocytes and
micromegakaryocytes).
Look for clumps of abnormal cells
(higher power needed to examine content and morphology of clumps)
Identify macrophages
(higher power for evidence of haemophagocytosis, malaria pigment, and
bacterial or fungal infections that may be present in the cytoplasm)
34. High power (40x,100x oil immersion)
Identify all stages of maturation of myeloid
and erythroid cells
Maturation abnormalities are noted
Determine the myeloid:erythroid ratio
Perform a differential count using the
categories erythroid, myeloid, lymphoid, plasma
cell, and “others,” simultaneously noting any
morphological abnormalities.
Look for areas of bone marrow necrosis
Assess the iron content
48. OSTEOBLAST have basophillic cytoplasm,extruding nucleus and regular
chromatin with 1-4 nucleoli. Can be distinguished from plasma cells by their larger
size and the position of the Golgi zone, which is not immediately adjacent to the
nucleus.
49. An osteoclast; note the highly granular cytoplasm and the multiple nuclei (2-
100)which are uniform in size and have indistinct, medium - sized, single nucleoli.
MGG × 100.
50. Mast cells on bone marrow.
With PAS stain they display magenta coloured granules
51. Mature megakaryocyte having loblated nucleus and pink granular
cytoplasm..platelets are formed by budding of the cytoplasm which are
shed in the circulation.
52. Aspirate of normal BM: a macrophage containing granular and refractile debris
and several normoblast nuclei. MGG × 100.
53. Aspirate of non - infiltrated BM from a patient with Hodgkin lymphoma: a mature
megakaryocyte exhibiting emperipolesis. MGG× 100.
54. Grading of bone marrow storage iron
0 No stainable iron
1+ Small iron particles just visible in reticulum
cells using an oil objective
2+ Small, sparse iron particles in reticulum cells,
visible at lower power
3+ Numerous small particles in reticulum cells
4+ Larger particles with a tendency to
aggregate into clumps
5+ Dense, large clumps
6+ Very large clumps and extracellular iron
55. Grading for iron on bone marrow aspirate
Grade 1 Grade 2 GRADE 3
1+ Small iron particles just visible in reticulum cells using an oil objective
2+ Small, sparse iron particles in reticulum cells, visible at lower power
3+ Numerous small particles in reticulum cells
56. Iron grading
4+ Larger particles with a tendency to aggregate into clumps
5+ Dense, large clumps
6+ Very large clumps and extracellular iron
GRADE 4 GRADE 5 GRADE 6
61. BIOPSY (Procedure)
• The trephine specimen is obtained by inserting
the biopsy needle into the bone and using a to-
and-fro rotation to obtain a core of tissue.
• If an aspirate has been performed first the
needle should be inserted through the same
incision but the needle should be advanced at a
slightly different angle.
62. • The bony core is gently dabbed or rolled
across the slide to form imprint smears, which
is then fixed and stained as for bone marrow
aspiration smears.
This allows immediate examination of cells that fall out of the
specimen onto the slide and may provide a diagnosis several
days before the trephine biopsy specimen has been
processedaspirate. and also useful in dry
• Bilateral trephine biopsies may be performed
to increase the yield of detecting focal lesions.
63. Length at least 1.5 cm
At least 10 partialy preserved trabecular
spaces seen
Sections of 3-4 micron in thickness cut at a
distance of 50 micron each.
(WHO Classification of tumours of
haematopoietic and lymphoid tissue 2008)
64. FIXATION:
Biopsy is fixed in 10% neutral buffered
formalin for 6 hrs.(ICSH preferred)
Other fixatives: Zinc formaldehyde
Acetic acid formalin
Isotonic buffered formalin
B5: not used due to presence of mercuric
chloride (poisonous)
Bouin’s fixative: not used in some countries,
due to presence of picric acid.
65. It is important to ensure that the formol -
saline is not left for long periods at ambient or
high temperature before being used because
formic acid and formalin pigment may be
produced.
The reactivity of antibodies used for
immunohistochemical staining may also be
affected by the choice of fixative (use of
Bouin’s solution is particularly limiting) and
Zenker’s fixative can destroy chloroacetate
esterase activity.
66. B5 fixative- if fixation lasts for more than 6
hours hardening of the tissue can make it
difficult to cut sections.
67. Decalcifier agent volume to tissue volume should
be 20:1
1. 10-15% EDTA( 1-3 days) preserves morphology,
enzymes and immunological epitopes. ICSH
recommended
2. 10% Formic acid( 2-3 days) causes more tissue
distortion.
68. 3. 5-10% nitric acid(3-6 hrs) used for urgent
processing. (nitric acid can cause
megakaryocytes to give positive reactions
with antibodies to CD34 and affect IHC.)
4. In our lab-EDTA.
69. DECALCIFICATION :PITFALLS
It chelates storage iron.
Affects the morphology and cytological details.
Affects ability to perform immunohistochemistry
and to retrieve material for molecular analysis.
70. Factors affecting decalcification
Conc. of decalcifying agent.
Temperature
Agitation
Age of patient
Type of bone
Size of spicules
71. Decalcification endpoint
Specimen radiography (FAXITRON,most
reliable)
Chemical method
Calcium oxalate test
(5ml of used decalcifying agent+Ca(OH)+ 5
mlsat. ammonium oxalate)
Physical method
Bubble test
72. :
Causes shrinkage and loss of some cellular
detail but better for IHC.
:
Glycol methacrylate or methyl methacrylate
used
Finer sections with better cellular details.
No decalcification required so used for
metabolic bone diseases.
73. SECTIONING
At least 6 sections should be cut at 3 levels
into cross sectional diameter of core-
25%
50%
75%
Additional sections needed for IHC or
histochemical stains
75. EVALUATION OF BONE MARROW BIOPSY
4x or 10x
Adequacy
Cellularity
Pattern
Presence of focal lesions
Megakaryocyte number
Abnormal cell clusters and location
Bone structure
Osteoclastic and osteoblastic activity.
76. 40x
Assess haemopoietic cells(erythroid, myeloid,
megakaryocytes, lymphoid cells, plasma cells
and macrophages) and cytological details.
Oil immersion
For finer cytological details (eg.intracellular
granules, organisms.)
77. Normal topography
Myeloid cells
Paratrabecular
Mature cells towards centre
Erythroid cells
Centre in colonies
Megakaryocytes
Centre around sinusoids
78. Monocyte precursors:
Not recognizable.
Some can be seen randomly distributed.
Lymphoid precursors:
Seen in periarteriolar region.
Stroma
Fat cells, fibroblasts, reticulin fibres
79. Osteocytes:
Seen in bony
lacunae.
Osteoblasts:
Seen lining the
trabeculae.
Osteoclasts:
Seen in howship’s
lacunae
.
80. Topography of cells
Bone marrow is highly organised structure with haemopoietic
elements maturing in different micro-anatomical sites.
89. Mast cells in immunoperoxidase stain
Usually seen in giemsa . Present irregularly in medullary cavity
90. Quantification of bone marrow reticulin
and collagen
0 No reticulin fibres demonstrable
1 Occasional fine individual fibres and foci of
fine fibre network
2 Fine fibre network throughout most of the
section; no coarse fibres
3 Diffuse fibre network with scattered thick
coarse fibres but no mature collagen
4 Diffuse often coarse fibre network with areas
of collagenization
91. grade 0 grade 1
Fine fibre network throughout
most of the section; no
Occasional fine individual
fibres and foci of fine fibre
network
grade 2,
92. grade 3,
grade 4,
Diffuse fibre network with scattered
thick coarse fibres but no mature
collagen
Diffuse often coarse fibre network with
areas
94. SUPPLEMENTARY INVESTIGATIONS
- Immunohistochemistry- for demonstration of
antigens in biopsy
Ex.- CD 34, CD 45, Lysozyme, MPO, CD 68,
CEA etc.
- Cytogenetic analysis- for chromosomal
rearrangements
- Molecular genetics- by PCR, RTPCR
FISH
95. Bone marrow biopsy report (ICSH guidelines
2008):
Name of institution
Unique specimen identifier
Details of patient- name,age,gender, contact details
Name of responsible physician
Name of requesting doctor
Date of procedure
Clinical history, examination,therapy
Indication of bone marrow examination
Procedure performed
Site of procedure
96. Signature and date of report
Length of biopsy core
Adequacy and appearance of the core
Percentage and pattern of cellularity
Bone architechture
Location, number,morphology and pattern of differentiation
of
1. Erythroid
2. Myeloid
3. Megakaryocytic
4. Lymphoid
5. Plasma cells
6. Macrophages
Abnormal cells
Reticulin stain
IHC
Other Ix
97. Turn around time
Varies from lab to lab
24 hrs in case of microwave decalcification and as
long as 1 week if EDTA based decalcifying agent
is used.
5 days for less urgent cases
Additional 1-2 days if IHC is required
In our lab aspiration is reported within 24hrs and
biopsy within 4-5 days.
99. Quality assurance
North America and Europe have well trenched
external quality assessment for histopathology
which includes bone marrow biopsy.
Situation in India is less advanced due to
vast unorganised structure of private labs
and
highly variable training, technological facilities
and reporting styles.
100. TAKE HOME MESSAGE
Biopsy of the bone marrow is an
indispensable adjunct to the study of diseases
of the blood and may be the only way in
which a correct diagnosis can be made.
A minimum definition of an adequate bone
marrow biopsy specimen stipulates a length of
atleast 1.5 cm, 5-6 marrow spaces and no
aspiration, crush or processing artifacts.
101. • Not to assess histology in isolation, ideally reported
along with bone marrow aspirate and peripheral
smear and preferrably reported by same pathologist.
• There should be an integrated approach in reporting
which includes
Clinical history
Laboratory investigations,
Imaging information
IHC wherever applicable.