Spinal cord compression due to extramedullary hematopoiesis in thalassemia: long-term follow-up after radiotherapy.
Spinal cord compression as a consequence of mass lesions due to extramedullary hematopoiesis is a well-described but rare syndrome occurring in thalassemia and some other hematologic conditions. After low-dose radiotherapy alone, a rapid and durable response occurred in a patient with thalassemia. No side effects were encountered and the patient has been stable neurologically for over 7 years since treatment. The results of the current case, and those previously reported in which radiotherapy alone was given, suggest that low-dose radiotherapy should be considered as a primary treatment modality for the management of this syndrome, at least in patients with thalassemia.
Jackson
D V
DV
Department of Medicine, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103.
Randall
M E
ME
Richards
F
F
D000328:Adult; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006411:Hematopoiesis, Extramedullary; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009192:Myelography; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed