Intrathoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis presenting as tumor‑simulating lesions of the mediastinum in α‑thalassemia: A case report

An,Jun; Weng,Yimin; He,Jinyuan; Li,Yun; Huang,Shaohong; Cai,Songwang; Zhang,Junhang

doi:10.3892/ol.2015.3597

Intrathoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis presenting as tumor‑simulating lesions of the mediastinum in α‑thalassemia: A case report

Authors:
- Jun An
- Yimin Weng
- Jinyuan He
- Yun Li
- Shaohong Huang
- Songwang Cai
- Junhang Zhang
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Affiliations: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat‑Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, P.R. China
Published online on: August 12, 2015 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2015.3597
Pages: 1993-1996
Copyright: © An et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) is a rare disease, where hematological disorder drives extramedullary hematopoietic tumor formation in multiple regions of the body. The present study reports a case of EMH presenting as multiple tumor‑like lesions of mediastinum in a 61‑year‑old male with α‑thalassemia, which was subjected to a video‑assisted thoracoscopic surgery tissue biopsy to differentiate it from other mediastinal tumors. To date, only three cases of EMH in patients with α‑thalassemia have been described in the literature. Patients with EMH typically exhibit no hematological disorder preoperatively and therefore EMH is frequently misdiagnosed. In the present study, along with a literature review of the clinicopathological features of EMH, the diagnosis and treatment of this rare case was discussed, in order to differentiate diagnosis, and particularly to distinguish EHM from extramedullary myeloid sarcoma.

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