title: Epidermoid splenic cysts.
abstract: Five young women were treated by splenectomy for epidermoid cysts of the spleen. They all had vague abdominal symptoms, and had a mass palpable in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. The hematologic indices were unremarkable. The diagnosis was suggested by routine radiologic examinations (including chest roentgenogram, upper gastrointestinal x-ray series, barium enema, and excretory urogram). It was confirmed in one patient by gray-scale ultrasonography, and in another by selective splenic arteriography. Of the true cysts of the spleen, the epidermoid cyst is the rarest, representing 10% of the benign, nonparaslitic cysts. The symptoms are completely relieved by splenectomy, and this remains the treatment of choice.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003560:Cysts / Q000473:pathology; D004814:Epidermal Cyst / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011859:Radiography; D013156:Splenectomy; D013160:Splenic Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*