Pulmonary Bone Marrow Hematopoietic Tissue Emboli: A Case Report

Embolus or a blockage-causing piece of material was described by Rudolf Virchow in 1848. Fat droplet, nitrogen bubble, atherosclerotic debris (Cholesterol emboli), tumor fragments, bone marrow, or even foreign bodies can be regarded as different forms of emboli. Bone marrow emboli consist of fat vacuoles enclosed by hematopoietic elements and firstly, Lubarsch (1898) and Lengemann (1897) described Bone marrow embolism in rabbits following the injection of liver, kidney, or placental cells into the regular vein. Based on statics, although; in autopsy samples the rate of fatal pulmonary embolism has recently reported from 6% to 2%, it leads 200000 deaths in the United States annually. Based on previous studies occurrence of emboli of haemopoietic tissue in the lungs is common in experimental model; but it is extremely unusual in humans. We here describe the case of a 37-year-old male corpse that referred to the department of forensic medicine organization in Birjand to determine the cause of death, He is involved in a car accident with some skeletal injury and severe burns in his organs. During a routine autopsy required tissues was sent to the laboratory for forensic examination. In microscopic histological examination of lung tissue, we observed unusual phenomenon; the cases demonstrated bone marrow hematopoietic tissue (include myeloid progenitor (Megakaryocytic, erythroblast and myeloblast)) embolism of the lungs. This article was aimed to articulate existence of this unusual phenomenon and to raise awareness of bone marrow embolism and to consider the possible pathophysiological mechanism(s) of causation, specifically in the absence of macroscopic fractures.

Keywords:

Bone marrow embolism , Hematopoietic tissue , Autopsy