Liver & intrahepatic bile ducts
Benign / nonneoplastic
Extramedullary hematopoiesis
Author: Shilpa Jain, M.D.
Last author update: 1 August 2012
Last staff update: 6 November 2024 (update in progress)
Copyright: 2002-2024, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Extramedullary hematopoiesis[TI] liver
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Case reports | Treatment | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Differential diagnosisCite this page: Jain S. Extramedullary hematopoiesis. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/livertumorEMH.html. Accessed December 26th, 2024.
Definition / general
- Usually discovered incidentally or associated with anemia
- Rarely presents as liver mass
- Only very few liver nodules of EMH have been described in the literature (Diagn Cytopathol 1997;16:51)
Case reports
- 52 year old woman with 2.5 cm, 5 cm and 7 cm liver masses and normal serum AFP (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2003;127:631)
Treatment
- Radiation or hydroxyurea if symptomatic
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Erythroid precursors in sinusoids (resemble lymphocytes), myeloid precursors in portal tracts (resemble mixed portal infiltrate or eosinophils in neonates)
- Also megakaryocytes within sinuses
Microscopic (histologic) images
Contributed by S. Rajendiran, M.D., Nikhil Sangle, M.D. and ARUP Laboratories
50 year old man with vague abdominal pain; CT abdomen showed a 2 cm mass; CT guided biopsy performed
Liver with extramedullary hematopoiesis
Images hosted on other servers:
H&E and CD68
Differential diagnosis
- Abscess / infections
- Lymphoproliferative disorder
- Prominent megakaryocytic component may suggest atypical or malignant diagnosis
