Pulmonary emboli and extramedullary haematopoiesis in &#946;-thalassaemia intermedia

Joel Dunn; Sameer Khan; Ben Ariff; Nicola Strickland; Adil Al-Nahhas

Vol 11, No 1 (2008)

Submitted: 2012-01-23

Published online: 2008-01-15

View PDF

Download PDF file

Get Citation

Pulmonary emboli and extramedullary haematopoiesis in β-thalassaemia intermedia

Joel Dunn, Sameer Khan, Ben Ariff, Nicola Strickland, Adil Al-Nahhas

Nucl. Med. Rev 2008;11(1):34-36.

Vol 11, No 1 (2008)

Submitted: 2012-01-23

Published online: 2008-01-15

Abstract

We present a case of a 52-year-old woman with β-thalassaemia intermedia under investigation for pulmonary hypertension. V/Q scan demonstrated bilateral pulmonary emboli. In addition there was evidence of central, posterior matched defects. CT pulmonary angiogram confirmed the presence of extramedullary haematopoiesis (EMH) in the paravertebral region. Although a few case reports of pulmonary emboli in thalassaemia intermedia have been published, to the best of our knowledge there have been no reports of matched defects caused by extramedullary haematopoiesis. This may be mistaken for enlarged pulmonary arteries, which are also seen in patients with pulmonary hypertension.