Bone marrow aspirate
Bone marrow is a soft fatty tissue found inside the body’s larger bones. It has a honeycomb or sponge-like structure, consisting of a network of fibres filled with fluid. The fluid contains stem cells, blood cells in various stages of maturation, and ‘raw materials’, such as iron, vitamin B12 and folate, that are required for cell production.
A variety of bone marrow diseases, cancers such as leukaemia, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, inherited conditions and diseases such as aplastic anaemia, can affect the marrow’s ability to produce an adequate number of each of the different blood cell types and release them into circulation. These diseases may affect the total number of cells produced, the proportion of different cells produced, and/or the function of the cells.
Some bone marrow disorders may lead to a deficiency of one or more cell types while others result in excess production of a specific type or of a specific clone of a cell – a single cell that reproduces without regulation.
Bone marrow is often assessed in conjunction with red cell indices and reticulocyte count in the diagnosis of a number of conditions, including:
- Aplastic anaemia, acute leukaemia (AML/ALL), myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), myelofibrosis and essential thrombocythaemia, multiple myeloma, severe thrombocytopenia and/or anaemia and/or neutropenia
- Staging of tumours, eg. Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, small cell carcinoma of the lung
- Assessment of infection in immune-compromised individuals, suspected brucellosis, typhoid fever and other conditions
Special handling: patient to be administered local anaesthetic, asepsis maintained and sample collection performed by suitably trained physician.
Record last updated
August 14, 2025
Sample Container
60ml Universal container - Sputum and Fluids (White top)
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Test Results
Yes, we have a Pathology User Guide
Yes. Please email your request to Imperial.nwlpcustomerservice@nhs.net
Results are communicated to clinical staff and are normally not communicated direct to patients either on telephone requests or in written report. If you need to contact us please click here to view the contact details page
Please contact the Customer Service Team Monday to Friday from 8:30am – 6:00pm on 0203 313 5353. Alternatively, see the Pathology User Guide for how to contact the relevant department. If advice is not urgent you can also email your query to Imperial.nwlpcustomerservice@nhs.net
Additional tests may be added by discussion with the relevant laboratory. The time limit for adding additional tests to a sample already received in the laboratory will depend on the type of sample and the department it was sent to.
Information on the repertoire of tests performed by pathology, including reference ranges, turnaround times and specimen requirements, can be found in the test directory.
Different tests have different sample stability requirements. If a comment on results indicates that the sample was delayed, the links below will indicate which tests may have been affected. This information is for serum or plasma samples.
For some tests, the impact of delay is consistent and these are marked with an arrow:
↑ indicates tests where delayed centrifugation results in falsely elevated results and the true level is likely lower than that reported.
↓ indicates tests where delayed centrifugation results in falsely lowered results and the true level is likely higher than that reported.
If there is no arrow, the true level may be lower or higher than reported.
Please interpret results with caution and consider the impact of any uncertainty.
The comment on the report will state how delayed the sample was. Please click the relevant link below to see which other tests may have been affected.
| >8h | >12h | >24h | >48h | >72h |
Phlebotomy services are not managed by NWLP. For further information please see:
Imperial College Healthcare Trust Phlebotomy services
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Phlebotomy services
NWLP operates UKAS accredited medical laboratories as per the references below. The current scope of accreditation for all NWLP’s laboratories can be found on the UKAS website.
UKAS accredited medical laboratory/medical diagnostic service:
- Clinical Biochemistry No. 8673
- Haematology and Blood Transfusion No. 8674
- Infection & Immunity Sciences (Including Immunology, Virology, Microbiology and Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics ) No. 8659
- Cellular Pathology (Including Histopathology, Cytology and Molecular Pathology) No. 9615
If you require copies of our certificate of accreditation and associated documentation please contact Imperial.nwlpcustomerservice@nhs.net.
UKAS requires the laboratories to be accredited for a particular repertoire/scope (ISO15189), any changes or additions to repertoire require assessment by UKAS (extension to scope).
The BD Hospital Tube Guide, BD GP Tube Guide and BD Paediatric Tube Guide provide visual references to the correct tube types and collection instructions.
Home testing
INSTRUCTION SHEET FOR BLOOD SAMPLE COLLECTION
We also have two instruction videos available (one with subtitles and one without) – please click on the links to view the videos on Google.
Our accreditations
Upholding excellence in diagnostic standards
Our laboratories are accredited by the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) against the international standard ISO15189:2022. UKAS is the accreditation body for the UK that assesses medical laboratories.
Find out more about our accreditations on the UKAS website.
UKAS website