Myelodyplastic syndrome in young age

The myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients diagnosed between 1986 and 1992 were evaluated. There were 40 patients, 21 of them were female and 19 of them were male. Ages were between 16 and 71 (mean 44.00 ± 17.46). About half of them (19/40) were younger than 40 years old which is much younger than the previously reported cases. Twenty-six of them had refractory anemia (RA), 4 had refractory anemia with ringed sideroblast (RARS), 4 had refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB) and 6 had refractory anemia with excess blasts transformation (RAEB/t). Granulocytic sarcoma preceded the development of blastic transformation (BT) in one case, tuberculosis in one case and membranous glomerulonephritis accompanied MDS in one case. Clinical course was more aggressive in younger patients than the older age group. BT developed in 7 of the 19 cases in the younger patient group compared with 4 in the 21 patients in older age group