Etiological Factors for Acquired Aplastic Anemia in Patients Admitted to Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar

Background: Aplastic anemia is a rare but serious disorder. More than 70% cases of anemia are idiopathic. This study was conducted to find out the possible etiological factors in our set up. Methodology: This descriptive study was carried out in Department of Medicine, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar from January, 2005 to December, 2009. One hundred patients with acquired aplastic anemia were studied. Patients above age 11 and below 65 years having pancytopenia and empty bone marrow or marrow replaced by fatty cells were included. Patients with pancytopenia due to bone marrow infiltration with abnormal cells or fibrosis were excluded from the study. After a thorough history and clinical examination all patients were subjected to a list of investigations. All the findings were recorded on proforma devised for this study and analyzed. Results: One hundred patients with 72% male and 28% female were included in this study. Majority of the patients were in age group 11-45 years. In 48% of patients there was no etiological factor for aplastic anemia. Thirteen (13%) patients had megaloblastic anemia. Other risk factors identified were interferon therapy 6%, cytotoxic drugs 7%, heroin 6%, kushtas 2%, systemic lupus erythematosus 2%, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria 2%, Anti-malarials containing sulpha group 2% and pregnancy 1%, hepatitis B 8% and hepatitis C 3%. Conclusion: Acquired aplastic anemia is more prevalent in young males. In the majority of cases it is idiopathic but in many cases the cause can be searched out and prevented or treated.