title: Renal extramedullary hematopoietic tumor diagnosed by fine needle aspiration: a case report.
abstract: We report a case of a 58 year-old-male with a history of sickle cell anemia, who presented with a left kidney mass. Guided fine needle aspiration of the mass revealed extramedullary hematopoiesis and enabled avoiding an unnecessary surgical procedure.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) generally occurs in patients with deficient bone marrow hematopoiesis secondary to either peripheral red cell destruction or marrow replacement. EMH is most commonly seen in the liver and spleen as a diffuse lesion. Rarely EMH presents as a solitary mass, posing a diagnostic dilemma. In asymptomatic patients without obvious evidence of hemato-pathology, the differential diagnosis is even more complex. Despite several reports describing the radiographic findings in EMH, fewer promote the use of fine needle aspiration (FNA) in making this diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cytology, Democritus University of Thrace, Dragana, 68 100 Alexandroupolis, Greece.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tamiolakis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: PTassopoulos
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Simopoulos
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kotini
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Venizelos
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alexiadis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manavis
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
mesh_terms: D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006411:Hematopoiesis, Extramedullary; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged