Bone marrow morphologic findings in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection

The hematologic, histologic and morphologic bone marrow findings of 18 patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection were reviewed. The mean age of the patients studied was 27 years; age range was six to 63 years. The main bone marrow morphologic finding was hypercellularity (72%), which was mainly due to megakaryocytic hyperplasia with or without granulocytic or erythrocytic hyperplasia. Naked (denuded) megakaryocyte nuclei, which are considered an indicator of HIV infection, were present in 72% of the bone marrows examined. Reticuloendothelial iron blockade was identified in 78% of cases. Other less frequent findings included erythrocytic dysplasia (44%), plasmacytosis (28%), nonspecific granulomas (l7%), Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (17%), lymphocytic aggregates (11%) and histiocytosis (6%). The bone marrow findings in this series of HIV patients appear to be similar to what has been previously reported from other countries.