Myelodysplastic syndromes: an analysis of clinical and haematological features

A retrospective analysis of 24 cases of myelodysplastic syndromes was performed between 1979-1984. There were 16 men and 8 women with a mean age of 69 years and 65 years respectively. The most common haematological features at initial presentation were refractory macrocytic anaemia, reticulocytopenia and associated with either bicytopenia or pancytopenia. The bone marrow was often cellular with megaloblastoid erythropoiesis and in 7 patients (29%), there were ring sideroblasts. Often there was associated dysgranulopoiesis and dysthrombopoiesis Myelodysplastic syndromes appear morphologically to be a heterogenous entity. An attempt to classify them according to the recent proposal of the French-American-British (FAB) Co-operative Group was made. Transformation into acute non-lymphocytic leukaemia occurred in 6 patients (25%). The mean interval between diagnosis and transformation to acute leukaemia was 13 months (range 3-30 months). Acute leukaemia in these patients were refractory to conventional chemotherapy. There were 14 deaths (58%) observed during the period and the common causes of deaths were acute leukaemia, infections and haemorrhage. At present there is no specific or generally effective therapy for this haematologic entity.