Scintigraphic diagnosis of intrathoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis in alcohol-related macrocytosis.

Abstract

We report the scintigraphic diagnosis of thoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis in a case of alcohol-related macrocytosis. A patient with liver cirrhosis and alcohol-related macrocytosis showed multiple rounded masses in the low thoracic paraspinal region on chest radiography and CT. Whole-body scintigraphy and SPECT imaging of the thorax, after nanocolloid administration, demonstrated expansion of the bone marrow in the humeri and femora and uptake of the tracer in the mediastinal masses, establishing the diagnosis of mediastinal extramedullary hematopoiesis. Thoracic extramedullary hematopoiesis may occur in conjunction with alcohol-related macrocytosis. Scintigraphy with 99mTc-nanocolloids is a suitable noninvasive method to establish the presence of extramedullary marrow.