Refractory anemia with excess blasts (RAEB), type 2 is a very severe type of RAEB (see this term) characterized by cytopenias and the following hematological parameters: uni- or multilineage dysplasia, 10% to 19% blasts in bone marrow or 5% to 19% in peripheral blood, variable presence of Auer rods (abnormal, needle-shaped or round inclusions in the cytoplasm of myeloblasts and promyelocytes). Median survival has been reported to be 18 months.