Can polymerase chain reaction help distinguish benign from malignant lymphoid aggregates in bone marrow aspirates?
* Objective.-Although morphologic and immunologic clues are helpful in distinguishing benign from malignant lymphoid aggregates in bone marrow biopsies, there remain some cases in which it is not possible to arrive at a definitive diagnosis. Since the malignant aggregates are monoclonal B-cell proliferations, we sought to determine whether performing polymerase chain reaction for the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus would be helpful in distinguishing these 2 entities. Methods and Results.- Scrapings from unstained bone marrow aspirate smears or touch preparations of bone marrow biopsies from …
