Different bone marrow aspirate preparations, including push films, particle sections, imprint films of the core biopsy specimen, and buffy coat preparation (BCP), were compared with the bone marrow biopsy specimen to assess the usefulness of BCP. BCP from 29 scanty, diluted, or clotted bone marrow aspirates of a total of 489 aspirates performed over a 15-month period were analyzed. The 29 BCPs were obtained from patients with anemia (seven cases), leukemia (six cases), nonhematopoietic malignancies (six cases), lymphomas (five cases), and other hematologic diseases (five cases). BCP provided diagnostic information in 25 of 29 cases–a considerably improved yield compared with particle sections (4/26), imprint smears of a Jamshidi needle biopsy (7/21), and push smears of the aspirate (3/15). Assessment of iron stores was possible in 9 of 29 cases. We conclude that BCP is a simple technique that increases the diagnostic output in cases of scanty, diluted, or clotted marrow aspirates when a bone marrow biopsy specimen is not available.
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