A Rare Case Report of Extra Medullary Hematopoiesis in Lung in a Case of Thalassemia

In thalassemia ineffective red cell production by the bone marrow (ineffective erythropoiesis) forces expansion of the hematopoietic tissue outside the marrow medulla and leads to hematopoietic compensatory involvement, mostly in the form of masses, of other regions in the body, the phenomenon termed extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH). So ineffective erythropoiesis in patients with thalassemia drives extramedullary hematopoietic tumor formation in several parts of the body. EMH is most often seen in reticuloendothelial organs like spleen, liver or lymph node and rarely seen in lung parenchyma. Here, we are reporting a case of 32 yrs male presented with the complain of fatigue, pallor, breathlessness, with history of b thalassemia, diagnosed as EMH in lung. Computed Tomography (CT) of chest showed bilateral masses at the lower lobe of both lung. The masses initially diagnosed as neoplastic lesion radiologically. CT Guided fine needle aspiration cytology of the mass confirms pulmonary extramedullary hematopoiesis.