Hello and welcome to the zero to finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about myelodysplastic

syndrome.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero to finals.com slash milodysplastic

syndrome or in the hematology section of the second edition of the zero to finals medicine book.

So let's get straight into it.

Milo dysplastic syndrome is a form of cancer caused by a mutation in the myeloid cells in the bone marrow,

resulting in inadequate production of blood

cells, which is described as ineffective hematopoysis. There are various types of myelodysplastic

syndrome. It has the potential to transform into acute myeloid leukemia.

Milodysplastic syndrome causes low levels of blood components that originate from the myeloid cell line, specifically anemia, which is a low hemoglobin, neutropenia or a low neutrophil

count, and thrombocytopenia, which is a low platelet count.

Pancytopenia is a combination of low red blood cells, low white blood cells, and low platelets.

The key risk factors for myelodysplastic syndrome are older age and previous chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

So let's talk about the presentation.

Patients with myelodysplastic syndrome may be asymptomatic and the condition is picked up or diagnosed after incidental findings on a full

blood count. They may present with symptoms of anemia such as fatigue, pale skin or pallor, or

shortness of breath, neutropenia with frequent or severe infections, and thrombocitopenia with bleeding and purporta,

or bleeding under the skin causing non-blanching lesions.

Let's talk about making the diagnosis.

The full blood count results will be abnormal.

There may be blast cells or blasts on the blood film

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