A rare case of adrenal extramedullary haematopoiesis in a Cypriot woman with β-thalassaemia

We report a rare case of adrenal extramedullary haematopoiesis (EMH) in a thalassaemia patient in Cyprus. A 40-year-old woman with β-thalassaemia presented with a 2-day history of non-specific right-sided abdominal pain on routine follow-up for her thalassaemia treatment. Her laboratory tests were not dissimilar to her routine results and no palpable mass was detected. Computed tomography findings revealed a 5.8×4.2×4.6cm solid lesion in the right adrenal gland. Surgical excision was advised for this symptomatic large tumour with the possibility of malignancy in a young patient, and a laparoscopic adrenalectomy was performed. Postoperative follow-up was uneventful. A review of the literature in PubMed and MEDLINE revealed 14 case reports worldwide with adrenal EMH secondary to β-thalassaemia. EMH tumours in patients with thalassaemia have been reported incidentally, which stresses the importance of considering this in the list of differentials of adrenal incidentalomas in this patient population.