RESUMO
Objective: To quantitatively analyze the reticulin fiber intensity density (RFD) in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) by using the computer-aided grid point method, and preliminarily explore its correlation with the prognosis of MDS patients. Methods: Bone marrow (BM) slices from 32 primary MDS patients treated in Tongren Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from February 2017 to December 2019 were observed. Images were taken by the optical microscope imaging system after the Gomori staining. The computer grid marking software was developed according to the principle of the mesh micrometer to assess RFD, meanwhile, the artificial semi-quantitative were used to assess the fibrosis of bone marrow. The co-relation between the above two methods was evaluated, and the relationship between RFD and prognosis of MDS patients were further investigated with Cox regression analysis. Results: Of the patients, there were 17 males and 15 females with a median age of 69 years (32-91 years). The RFD quantitatively analyzed by the computer-based method was positively correlated with the myelofibrosis grade by the artificial semi-quantitative analysis (r=0.497, P=0.004). The RFD in patients diagnosed with MDS complicated with excess blasts (MDS-EB) was significantly higher than that in the non-MDS-EB group((9.55%±0.75%) vs (1.71%±0.23%), P<0.001). Cox regression model analysis showed that the RFD of MDS patients had better prognostic value when compared with the artificial semi-quantitative analysis, which was also a poor prognostic factor (RR=1.337, 95%CI: 1.085-1.648, P=0.006). The overall survival (OS) of patients with RFD>5.54% was significantly shorter than that with RFD≤5.54% (P=0.001). The OS of MDS-EB patients with RFD>9.81% was significantly shorter than that in patients with RFD≤9.81% (P=0.003). Conclusion: Abnormal proliferative fibrosis of bone marrow is a potential high-risk factor for poor prognosis of MDS patients.