Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are the most common hematological malignancies involving mostly the elderly population. This volume provides and updated overview of important clinical aspects of the disease.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are the most common hematological malignancies involving mostly the elderly population. The major morbidity relates to patients' symptomatic cytopenias.MDS was previously named as "preleukemia " or " smoldering leukemia" as the lack of terminal cells in MDS and because about 25% of all cases progresses into acute myeloid leukemia. According to various reports the annual incidence of MDS ranges widely from 2-12 per 100.000, increasing to 30-50 cases per 100.000 among persons aged 70 or older. It is believed that the true incidence of MDS have been...