Mohammad AJ Abdulla
Department of Medical Oncology, Hematology Section, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Mohamed A Yassin
Department of Medical Oncology, Hematology Section, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Mohamed Abdelrazek
Department of Radiology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Deena Mudawi
Department of Medical Oncology, Hematology Section, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Firyal Ibrahim
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Dina S Soliman
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar; Department of Clinical Pathology, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Halima ElOmri
Department of Medical Oncology, Hematology Section, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Abdulqadir J Nashwan
Department of Medical Oncology, Hematology Section, National Center for Cancer Care and Research, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Liam Joseph Fernyhough
Assistant Professor of Medicine Department of Medical Education, Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar
Vincenzo de Sanctis
Pediatric and Adolescent Outpatients Clinic, Quisisana Accredited Private Hospital, Ferrara, Italy
Ashraf T Soliman
Pediatric Endocrinology, Hamad Medical Center, Doha, Qatar
Keywords
Extramedullary hematopoiesis, thalassemia intermedia, differential diagnosis, treatment
Abstract
Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) is a rare disorder, defined as the appearance of hematopoietic elements outside the bone marrow or peripheral blood. The most common sites of EMH are liver and spleen, but it has been documented in other organs such as the mediastinum, lymph nodes, breast, and central nervous system. EMH occurs as a compensatory mechanism for bone marrow dysfunction in severe thalassemia. We report a case of EMH presenting as a posterior mediastinal mass in a 34-year-old woman with thalassemia intermedia with chronic cough and shortness of breath on exertion. The diagnosis of EMH was confirmed by a CT-guided fine needle biopsy. All symptoms disappeared after surgical removal of the mass.
Abstract