Case 40. Misdiagnosis of refractory macrocytic anemia.

A diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome, refractory anemia subtype, was made in an elderly Indian woman on the basis of a refractory macrocytic anemia with normal vitamin B(12) and folate assays, normal thyroid function, essentially normal liver function and normal cytogenetic analysis. Disease evolution revealed that the diagnosis was erroneous.