Real-world data of leukopenia evaluation as seen in a community academic center

Abstract

Leukopenia on routine laboratory testing creates a concerning situation for primary care providers due to its association with hematological malignancies. Although not all leukopenia is due to underlying cancer, it can trigger an expensive and exhausting work-up in the process of ruling it out. There is neither real-world data on the prevalent causes of leukopenia as seen in the community nor definitive guidelines on the utilization of flow-cytometry in this setting. We conducted this retrospective study at our community academic center to demonstrate the distribution of various causes of leukopenia as well as the utility of flow-cytometry. Our study demonstrates that benign reversible causes of leukopenia are most prevalent and flow-cytometry is useful only in some very specific settings. These results provide a real-world estimate for clinicians to make informed decisions while evaluating leukopenia.