Rare anemias from the group of congenital bone marrow failure syndromes

This review summarizes the pathophysiology, genetic background and clinical symptoms of anemias belonging to the group of inherited bone marrow failure syndromes with unilineage failure of erythropoiesis. It sums up the current knowledge of three diseases: Diamond-Blackfan anemia, congenital dyserythropoietic anemia and Fanconi anemia whose pathophysiology was elucidated in detail during the last decade, owing to the rapid development of new molecular-genetic techniques, especially next-generation sequencing. Fanconi anemia is included in this overview because of macrocytosis and/or anemia detected in the majority of the patients before they develop bone marrow failure. The paper also aims at pointing out typical associated anomalies in these diseases which might be overlooked and which can lead to early diagnosis. Unfortunately, the correct diagnosis is often established later in adulthood and, in some cases, as late as at the time of manifestation of malignant disease. Accurate and timely diagnosis of these conditions is extremely important for the determination of appropriate treatment approach, diagnosis of affected family members (especially in the process of bone marrow donor search), and genetic counselling, which can substantially influence the prognosis of these diseases. Key words: congenital dyserythropoietic anemia - Diamond-Blackfan anemia - DNA repair - dyserythropoiesis - Fanconi anemia - inherited bone marrow failure - ribosomopathies.