AML-148: Seasonal Variations in Hematological Disorders: A 10-Year Single-Center Experience

Context: Author observed certain hematological disorders clustering in certain part of the year, however no authentic data or local study was found which covered these disorders in the context of seasonal variations. Objectives: To assess the seasonal variations in hematological disorders among patients diagnosed based on bone marrow biopsy. Design: We retrospectively reviewed the 10-year records of hematological disorders among patients from year 2006 to 2015. Setting: The study was conducted at National Institute of Blood Disease and included patients who visited their clinics. Patients and Other Participants: All cases of aplastic anemia (AA), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML), immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), and acute promyelocytic leukemia (APML) were categorized based on the seasons in which they were diagnosed such as winter (December-February), spring (March-May), southwest monsoon periods (June-September), and retreating monsoon period (October and November). SPSS and STATA were used for statistics. Inferential statistics were explored using the chi-square test for heterogeneity to evaluate seasonal variations. P-value Study Outcome Measures: To assess the seasonal variations in hematological disorders among patients diagnosed based on bone marrow biopsy, who attended National Institute of Blood Diseases (NIBD) clinics during 2006 to 2015. Significant seasonal and yearly variations were detected in all diagnosis except the APML. Results: A total of 1982 cases were reviewed. Men were predominantly higher (n = 1190, 60%) as compared to women (n = 792, 40%). Frequency of ALL was found to be higher (513, 25.9%), followed by ITP (504, 25.4%), AML (490, 24.7%), AA (396, 20%), while APML was observed in only 79 (4%) patients. Seasonal variations in the diagnosis of hematological disorders were observed (P-value Conclusion: The finding of this study has reported an increase in hematological disorders during 2006 to 2015. Particularly, most of the cases were reported in southwest monsoon period, whereas the least number of cases were reported in retreating period. Significant seasonal and yearly variations were detected in all diagnosis except the APML.