A Study of Hematological Malignancies in Tripura Medical College & Dr. BRAM Teaching Hospital

Abstract

BACKGROUND Hematological malignancies are a major health problem in our society due to their high mortality and morbidity. It includes diverse and biologically distinct subgroups and can be defined as clonal neoplasm of hematopoietic stem cells characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of immature cells in bone marrow and spilling into peripheral blood. The patterns of subtypes of hematological malignancies vary in different populations and geographic areas because of genetic, environmental, dietary and social factors. Research of epidemiological features of leukemia are poorly reported in Tripura. The objective of the study was to get an idea about the pattern of hematological malignancies in our institute which will help to get an idea of the disease in our state and find out the incidence of hematological malignancies in Tripura Medical College, a tertiary care hospital in Tripura. METHODS This is a one-year prospective study, conducted in the Department of Pathology, Tripura Medical College & DR BRAM teaching hospital from July 2017 to June 2018. Medical records of all patients admitted to our hospital and diagnosed as a case of hematological malignancy were reviewed for demographic and clinical characteristics at diagnosis. Data analysis was performed by using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16. RESULTS Our study included 19 diagnosed cases of hematological malignancies, of which 15 were of acute leukemia and 3 cases were of chronic leukemia. Amongst the cases of acute leukemia, 9 were diagnosed as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) whereas 6 were diagnosed as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Out of chronic leukemic cases, all were diagnosed as CML. We reported a solitary case of multiple myeloma in a elderly male patient. Present study showed male predominance, invariably affecting the adults. Commonest form of leukemia in adults were AML followed by chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) whereas all cases of ALL were found in children.The most common peripheral blood finding in hematological malignancy was pancytopenia followed by bicytopenia. CONCLUSIONS In our study, acute leukemia was the most common subtype of leukemia in all age groups. Of all leukemia cases, majority were of AML. Demographic characteristics were almost the same as other regional reports. Our observation is mostly comparable with other studies from India and the neighborhood countries. The differences observed in few demographic parameters may be due to geographic variation and genetic difference of study population. KEY WORDS Hematological Malignancies, Acute Leukemia, Chronic Myeloid Leukemia