A good review of the Pattern of Hematological Malignancies in a Tertiary Hospital.
Hematological malignancies are clonal diseases of blood, with leukemia and lymphoma seen as the commonest. Hematological malignancies are caused majorly by genetic disorders or mutations occurring in somatic cells which may be caused by environmental agents such as viral agents, chemicals, and ionizing agents. They are also associated with immunodeficiency states, viral, and bacterial infections. This study is aimed at determining the pattern of hematological malignancies in a tertiary hospital in Ondo State, Nigeria, and compares findings of this research with those reported in other parts of the world. The retrospective study was carried out from 2012 to 2020 at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (former Kidney care center), Trauma center, and State specialist hospital, Akure, Ondo State. Patient’s case notes, bone marrow aspiration results, and histopathology results were materials used for this study. Analysis was done using SPSS version 21. Chi-square analysis was done to determine significant association of the disease with age and sex. A total of 60 cases of hematological malignancies were seen during the 8-year review. Females were more affected than males, and patients over 45 years were most affected. The most common presenting feature was anemia (98.3%). Leukemia was the most common hematological malignancy seen in the study with CML being the most common of all (28.3%). About 58.3% of the patients were married, while 48.3% were unemployed. The present study has shown an increase in the prevalence rate of leukemia cases among the hematological malignancies seen in the State. This could be traced to various factors such as age, sex, and environment. Early diagnosis should be done for effective management, and financial support should be provided by the government.
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