Haematological and Demographic Features of Acute Myeloid Leukemia among Patients attending the National Oncology Center, Sana’a City - Yemen.

Abstract

Background: The distinctive feature of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the infiltration of abnormal myeloid precursors into the bone marrow and other tissues, frequently accompanied by the appearance of these abnormal cells in the peripheral blood. This study aimed to describe the hematological features and demographic characteristics of patients with AML who attended the National Oncology Center in Sana’a, Yemen.

Subjects and Methods: This descriptive study was carried out on 124 newly diagnosed AML patients of all ages and both genders who attended the National Oncology Center in Sana’a City, Yemen, during the period from November 2022 to November 2023. The complete blood count test was performed by drawing a few milliliters of blood sample, then was analyzed through a hematology analyzer, which performs quantitative analysis of blood elements including white blood cell count, WBC differential count, red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and platelet count.

Results: The median age of the patients was 35 years and a range (0.9-779 years); the majority of cases were older than 18 years (62.9%); and the frequency of AML was higher in males than in females (57.26% and 42.74%), respectively. Of 124 newly diagnosed AML patients, the median (range) of WBC and platelets were 50.47 (1.18-534.32 103/uL) and 45 (343 103/uL), respectively. The mean SD for RBC was 2.85 0.78 106/uL,, Hb was 8.40.94 g/dL, and Blast count was 75.26 16.04%). Leukocytosis was detected in (62.9%), Hyperleucotyosis in (25%), Erythropenia in (87.1%), and Thrombocytopenia in (86.3%). There was a significant positive correlation between age and platelets (r = 0.194, p-value = 0.03), WBC and Blast cells (r = 0.285, p-value = 0.001), and highly significant between RBC and Hb (r = 0.623, p-value = <0xC6><0xB0>0.001). For the WBC and platelet counts, there were variations between age groups and two genders; the variations were little in other hemological patterns, and there was no significance for all parameters. For WBC count, the median was 62 x 103 uL in the female group, higher than in the male group (46.5 x 103 uL), while there wasn't or little variation in the hematological features among male and female AML patients.

Conclusion: Hematological features of bone marrow/peripheral blood are essential diagnostic tools in AML patients. In the present study, approximately 87% of patients present with leucotyosis or hyperleucotyosis, erythropenia, and thrombocytopenia. And the blast cell count was > 20% for all AML patients, which is considered a diagnostic reference.