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Old Thu Jul 8, 2010, 01:23 PM
Marrowforums Marrowforums is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 919
New Tool: MDS Classification

Marrowforums is pleased to announce a new site feature for patients and caregivers: The MDS Classification Tool. It is one of our growing collection of tools for patients and caregivers.

What is MDS Classification?

MDS is a syndrome, not a single disease. Subtypes such as MDS/Refractory Anemia and MDS Del(5q) and classifications such as MDS Intermediate-1 are critical parts of your diagnosis.

Physicians use the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS), the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system, and the older FAB (French, American, British) classification system to identify and assess your disease, to determine the most appropriate treatment options, and for statistical evaluation used in research. You'll find many references to IPSS classifications and WHO and FAB subtypes in the medical literature about MDS. See MDS Classification for details.

The MDS Classification Tool can help you understand your IPSS score, IPSS classification, WHO subtype, and FAB subtype by matching test results to MDS classifications and providing explanations of the scoring and subtypes.

We suggest that you ask for copies of the test results that led to your MDS diagnosis and classification, to help with your understanding, and that you talk to your doctor about your IPSS score, how your MDS was diagnosed and classified, and how it affects treatment recommendations.

Feedback welcome

The MDS Classification Tool is new and we'd like your feedback so we can evaluate and improve it. Please give us your comments by posting in this thread or contacting us privately. We'd like to know how well the tool works for you, whether you find it useful, and any "glitches" you encounter.

Although the MDS Classification Tool can help you learn more about your health, and identify questions to ask your doctor, please remember that tools like this must not be used to make your own diagnostic or treatment decisions or to replace medical consultations.
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