Why are sometimes macrocytic RBC's seen in MDS?

by Brady Kinesia (Posted Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:04 pm)Well, "Myelodysplastic Syndrome" is not only one pathology, it is a whole range of pre-leukemic blood disorders. But generally, my understanding is: that the macrocytic red blood cells are because of defects in DNA synthesis in the cell nuclei. There can be many variations on this in the bone marrow in MDS.This causes macrocytosis (without megaloblastosis), because it delays cell division, such that the RBC membranes get out of sync with the nuclei and grow too large.
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