Morphologic Characteristics of Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Morphologic characterization remains a cornerstone in the diagnosis and classification of myelodysplastic syndromes myelodysplastic syndromes: (my-eh-lo-diss-PLASS-tik SIN-dromez) A group of disorders where the bone marrow does not work well, and the bone marrow cells fail to make enough healthy blood cells. Myelo refers to the bone marrow. Dysplastic means abnormal growth or development. People with MDS have low blood cell count for at… (MDS) in the updated International Consensus Classification (ICC) and 5th edition World Health Organization Classification of Myeloid Neoplasms (Arber, Orazi, & Hasserjian, 2022; Khoury & Solary, 2022). The presence of dysplasia is one of the key diagnostic criteria required for establishing a diagnosis of MDS, and the percentage of myeloblasts in the blood and bone marrow bone marrow: The soft, spongy tissue inside most bones. Blood cells are formed in the bone marrow. impacts both disease classification and prognostication. Morphologic features also aid in distinguishing MDS from a myriad of other myeloid neoplasms and non-neoplastic mimics. Additional key morphologic features that should be recorded in any MDS case are the bone marrow cellularity cellularity: How much of the bone marrow volume is occupied by various types of blood cells. and the degree of reticulin fibrosis fibrosis: (fie-BRO-suss) Scarring of tissue. Fibrosis of the bone marrow is an feature seen in some types of unclassified myeldysplastic syndrome (MDS). . In this review, the morphologic assessment of the bone marrow biopsy bone marrow biopsy: A medical procedure to remove a small piece of solid bone marrow using a needle that goes into the marrow of the hip bone. The solid bone marrow is examined for cell abnormalities, the number of different cells and checked for scarring of the bone marrow. , bone marrow aspirate, and peripheral blood smear as it pertains to the diagnosis and up-to-date classification of MDS will be described. The implications of the findings on classification and prognosis will also be discussed.