Three cases of the myelodysplastic syndrome with pericentric inversion of chromosome 16

Inversion of chromosome 16, inv(16)(p13q22), is characteristic of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) with eosinophilia and is rarely found in the myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). We report three cases of MDS in which inv(16) was observed. They were classified to FAB subtypes RA, RARS and RAEBT; eosinophilia or abnormal eosinophils were not observed. The disease appeared to be stable in all three patients. MDS with inv(16) without eosinophilia may be a rare subgroup associated with a good prognosis.