Myelodysplastic syndrome prognosis
The myelodysplastic syndrome has various features depending on the patient and the severity of the disease. It is sometimes slow-progressing, but it can be very aggressive and cause many complications and cytopenias that increase the risk of mortality. In some cases, myelodysplastic syndrome turns into acute leukemia, and the patient needs urgent medical treatment to stabilize.
Prognosis can be calculated in patients depending on various factors, especially their hemoglobin levels, neutrophil and platelet count, the percentage of blasts in the bone marrow and the type of cytogenetic abnormalities. Patients with mild cytopenias, a normal karyotype and less than 10% blasts in the bone marrow have a 2-year survival rate or longer, and it is reduced as the severity of cytopenias and chromosomal abnormalities increase, and the percentage of blasts in the bone marrow is higher than 10%.