Pulmonary extramedullary hematopoiesis

Abstract

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) is the formation and development of blood cells outside of the bone marrow. Of particular interest to chest physicians and radiologists is the occurrence of EMH in the lungs and pleura. There have been several reports of patients presenting with pulmonary EMH published in the literature and the majority are due to a secondary process, such as myeloproliferative disorders, hemolytic anemias, hereditary spherocytosis, and Gaucher disease. We present a case report of pulmonary EMH and a review of the literature concentrating on the etiology, clinical presentation, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and therapy for this uncommon disorder.