Epidemiological data from the registry of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome in a single hospital center of Romania.

We present the first Romanian study on the epidemiological characteristics of MDS, based on the data existing in Fundeni Clinical Institute, Hematological Department, Bucharest. The files at diagnosis of the adult patients with primary MDS admitted during the period 1982-2005, recorded in the registration forms provided by the MDS Foundation (USA), represented the primary database. This study indicates an increase in the number of new MDS cases over the period of time investigated. Also, a 10 years lower median age of the patients, a noticeable proportion of young patients and a low proportion of patients >or=81 years have been found, which situates our findings in the middle between the Eastern and Western epidemiological reported data on MDS.