Myelodysplasia in Childhood

Myelodysplasia is a heterogenous group of disorders that was earlier described as preleukemia, refractory anemia with excess of blasts, subacute myeloid leukemia, oligoleukemia and odoleukemia . This disorder is predominantly a ineffective marrow due to a stem cell disorder characterized by progressive cytopenia(s), associated with a hypercellular, normocelular or hypocellular marrow and associated dysmorphism of myeloid, erythroid and / or megakaryocyte cell lineages. Myelodysplasia is associated with a greater predilection to evolve into acute myeloid leukemias (AML), though not in all patients. MDS is considered to be rare in childhood but the implications of such diagnosis in a child has more implications than in the adult.