[Refractory anemia with 5q--anomaly. Clinical picture and follow-up of seven patients]

The clinical picture and the course of the disease of seven patients with the 5q-syndrome are described. Examination of peripheral blood revealed refractory anaemia with macrocytosis, anisocytosis, poikilocytosis of erythrocytes, and platelet anisocytosis with some giant platelets. Characteristic bone marrow findings are megaloblastic dyserythropoiesis and micromegakaryocytes with hypolobulated nuclei. Cytogenetically, an interstitial deletion of the long arm of chromosome 5 is always found, associated with a haploid loss of the genes for the growth factors GM-CSF, M-CSF and IL-3. The disease is usually chronic, and only in the case of clonal evolution is there a considerable risk of leukemic transformation occurring. In the chronic phase, infusion of packed red cells as required individually has proved a reliable form of treatment. The results of chemotherapy have disappointed both in the chronic and acute phases of the disease.