Extramedullary hematopoiesis in the bilateral posterior mediastinum: report of a case

A case of extramedullary hematopoiesis in the bilateral posterior mediastinum is describedherein. The patient was a 58-year-old female diagnosed with jaundice in 1983. She wasadmitted to our department with abnormal shadows on a screening chest x-ray taken in 1998.CT and MRI scans of the chest revealed three well-demarcated solid paravertebral masses inthe bilateral posterior mediastinum. A preoperative blood examination suggested the existenceof hemolytic anemia. Extirpation of all mediastinal masses was performed after a diagnosisof multiple neurogenic tumors was made. The macroscopic appearance of the resectedspecimens was solid, soft and dark red. The histological diagnosis was extramedullaryhematopoiesis. A postoperative examination was performed, and she was diagnosed withhereditary sideroblastic anemia. It is emphasized that extramedullary hematopoiesis should beincluded in the differential diagnosis of posterior mediastinal masses, especially in patients withhemolytic anemia.