PET CT imaging in extramedullary hematopoiesis and lung cancer surprise in a case with thalassemia intermedia

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) is the production of hematopoietic precursors outside the bone marrow cavity, and it causes mass effects according to its localization. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or computed tomography (CT) scans are used most commonly to detect EMH foci. We report herein a case with thalassemia intermedia causing paravertebral mass associated with EMH detected by CT scan. We further evaluated the case with positron emission tomography (PET) CT, and lung cancer, which was not revealed in the CT scan, was detected coincidentally.