title: Fine-needle aspiration of the spleen as an aid in the diagnosis of splenomegaly.
abstract: Results from transabdominal fine-needle aspiration of the spleen in 28 dogs and 5 cats are reported. Splenomegaly was present in 79% of these patients, and splenic masses were present in 15%. Extramedullary hematopoiesis, the most common cytologic diagnosis, was found in 24% of the patients and was associated with a variety of diseases including immune hemolytic anemia, hemangiosarcoma, and bone marrow hypoplasia. Hematopoietic neoplasms including lymphosarcoma, plasmacytoma, myelogenous leukemia, and systemic mastocytosis were diagnosed in 24% of the patients. Other diagnoses included malignant neoplasia of undetermined cell type and lymphoreticular hyperplasia. Splenic aspirates were considered normal in 18% of the animals. Two (6%) of the aspirates contained liver tissue rather than spleen. Histologic evaluation of splenic tissue was performed in 42.5% of the patients. All cytologic diagnoses correlated well with their final histologic diagnoses. Complications from the aspiration procedure were not observed, even in thrombocytopenic patients.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000662:veterinary; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D002415:Cats; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs; D006394:Hemangiosarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006411:Hematopoiesis, Extramedullary; D013154:Spleen / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013158:Splenic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary; D013160:Splenic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*