Abstract

The hematopoiesis occurs normally in marrow of the bones in adult human bodies. The extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) refers to hematopoiesis outside the medullar of the bones. This process can be a normal physiology of hematopoiesis system or a consequence of several diseases such as thalassemia, hereditary spherocytosis, myelofibrosis… The definitive diagnosis was based on thoracic spine MRI and confirmed by post-operative biopsy. Thoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis represents as a rare phenomenon complicating several chronic hemopathies. This diagnosis should be born in mind in case of spinal cord compression masses in a patient with chronic hemolytic anemia in order to avoid dangerous surgical interventions. Even though there are many methods used to deal with those complication such as surgery, radiotherapy, transfusion, cytostatic agents, or a combination of these modalities, the treatment choice has been largely uncontroversial. Here in we report 2 cases of extramedullary hematopoiesis presented with chronic anemia associated with spinal cord compression signs corresponding with thoracic spine magnetic resonance imaging. Two patients in the report who underwent thoracic pedicle screw fixation and spinal cord decompression as the main treatment showed the good clinical outcomes in short-term follow-up. Keywords: thoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis, thoracic cord compression, chronic anemia.

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