Childhood Myelodysplastic Syndrome: A Rare Entity

Abstract

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a spectrum of bone marrow disorders resulting from clonal stem cell defect that manifest as cytopenias, ineffective hematopoiesis and dysplasia in all the three cell lines. Myelodysplastic syndrome is rare in children and accounts for less than 5% of the hematopoieitic malignancies below the age of 14 years. Refractory cytopenia of childhood (RCC) is the most common type of MDS that is seen in children. In this study, we report a case of 14 years old boy who presented to us with suspicion of aplastic anemia and was diagnosed as refractory cytopenia of childhood, a type of myelodysplastic syndrome.