PERIPHERAL-BLOOD NEUTROPHIL MORPHOLOGY REFLECTS BONE-MARROW DYSPLASIAIN MYELODYSPLASTIC SYNDROMES

Dysplastic features of cells in peripheral blood and bone marrow were studied in 51 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) to evaluat e the significance of the degree of neutrophil granulation (G-score) a nd the percentage of pelgeroid polymorphs (ppp) in the peripheral bloo d, as indices of dysplastic changes in the bone marrow. There was a go od correlation between peripheral blood and bone marrow findings, both for G-score figures (r = 0.92, P < 0.01) and pop (r = 0.82, P < 0.01) . significantly lower G-score figures were found among patients with a n increased percentage of bone marrow blasts (P < 0.05), while high pp p correlated with the presence of ring sideroblasts, the degree of bon e marrow fibrosis, and findings of complex chromosomal abnormalities, Patients with a high degree of bone marrow dysplasia had significantly lower G-score (P < 0.01) and significantly higher ppp (P < 0.05) figu res, than those with less pronounced myelodysplasia, In addition, extr eme hypogranulation (G-score < 150) or very high ppp (greater than or equal to 20%) was generally a sign of bi- and tri-lineage dysplasia in the bone marrow. The results thus show that quantitative estimation o f peripheral blood polymorph dysplasia by G-score figures and ppp seem s to reflect the total degree of bone marrow dysplasia in MDS and may serve as a complement to bone marrow evaluation when the diagnosis of MDS is difficult. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.