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Spinal cord compression due to extramedullary hematopoiesis in thalassemia: long-term follow-up after radiotherapy
D V Jackson1, M E Randall, F Richards
1Department of Medicine, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27103.
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.
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.