[15 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome]

15 patients (10 men and 5 women) with myelodysplastic syndrome, treated in a Hematologic Clinic during the last three years, are studied. The patients are classified in the following groups: with a refractory anemia (4 patients), with an acquired idiopathic sideroblast anemia (3 patients), with a refractory anemia with an excess of blast cells (8 patients). The diagnosis is proved by morphologic examinations, in some of the patients by isotopic examinations and in 5 patients a cytogenetic analysis is made. 7 patients died and in 5 of them the post mortem examination confirms the clinical diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome passed in acute leukosis. 4 patients are still alive and are under active observation. For the remaining 4 patients there are no data. The shortest survival is 6 months and the longest one is 9 years. The prognostic importance of the number of blast cells in the bone marrow is pointed out. The patients with refractory anemia with an excess of blast cells are treated with mercaptopurine or small doses of cytosine arabinoside in addition to the conventional blood-stimulating therapy applied in the other forms of myelodysplastic syndrome.