ABSTRACT
Objective: Pancytopenia refers to the combination of anemia, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia. Special interest has been directed to pancytopenia in obstetric population as an increasing incidence was observed in the geographical location of the population under study. Material and Methods: It's a prospective, observational study done over a period of 18 months at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Hubli. Obstetric in-patients (antenatal and postnatal cases up to 42 days postpartum) admitted with a diagnosis of pancytopenia were included. A thorough history, clinical examination, and laboratory evaluation including serum vitamin B12 and serum folic acid levels were carried out. They were followed for feto-maternal outcome. Results: The incidence of maternal pancytopenia in our study was 0.45%. This study observed that most of the participants were vegetarian by diet with vitamin B12 deficiency followed by folate deficiency leading to pancytopenia, with majority (37.7%) hailing from Gadag district. 91.1% of the patients with pancytopenia were found to have vitamin B12 deficiency and 62.2% among them had serum vitamin B12 levels as low as 50-100 pg/mL. Most of the patients [11 (24.44%)] had serum folic acid levels between 4.1-5.0 ng/mL. Conclusion: Association of pancytopenia with pregnancy is a rare entity, yet it has increased the risk of poor maternal and fetal outcome. Proper dietary counselling and well-balanced dietary plans can prevent the micronutrients deficiency and avoid the deleterious consequences like pancytopenia.