A study of cytological changes in the bone marrow of patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome

Peripheral blood leucopenia and thrombocytopenia are the main manifestations in severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) patients. However, the underlying causes are poorly understood. Therefore, we aimed to investigate cytology of bone marrow samples collected from SFTS patients. 10 SFTS patients were identified by typical clinical manifestations, detection of peripheral blood leucopenia and thrombocytopenia, and nucleic acid-based detection of the newly identified bunyavirus. SFTS patients, along with 10 participants with acute aplastic anemia and 10 healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study after written informed consent to undergo bone marrow cytological examination. We observed similar bone marrow properties in SFTS patients and healthy volunteers, significantly different from the characteristics observed in acute aplastic anemia patients. Similarities between bone marrow samples collected from SFTS patients and healthy volunteers suggest that peripheral blood leucopenia and thrombocytopenia do not result from bone marrow cell plasticity.