Bone marrow aspirate as an accessible and reliable source for critical laboratory studies.

Abstract

To determine whether laboratory studies performed on bone marrow aspirate can be used to predict values in the peripheral blood of human beings. Prospective correlative study. Tertiary care pediatric hospital. Fifteen patients from the hematology-oncology division of Children's Hospital, Oakland, California, were studied during routine diagnostic bone marrow aspirations. Aliquots of serum and bone marrow obtained as part of routine diagnostic studies were analyzed. Venous and bone marrow samples were analyzed for blood gas values, hemoglobin, and serum chemistries. Bone marrow specimens were found to reliably predict venous values of pH, bicarbonate, base excess, PCO2, hematocrit, sodium, chloride, and glucose. Bone marrow was not predictive of blood oxygenation, potassium, or ionized calcium. This study demonstrates in human beings what has previously been shown in animals--that the bone marrow is an alternative source of blood for a variety of laboratory studies.