[Refractory anemia with hypercellular bone marrow and preleukemia (author's transl)].

In refractory anemia with hypercellular bone marrow and in preleukemia the primary cellular defect probably is located at the level of the morphologically not definable stem cell. This defect causes reduced proliferative activity and ineffectivity of the morphologically definable stem cell and consequently is accompanied by peripheral cytopenia. The disarrangement of cellular metabolism first of all manifests itself in morphological anomalies of bone marrow hemopoietic cells. Using 17 own observations and in reference to previous literature the manifold manifestations of this disturbance are described.