Fine needle aspiration of thoracic splenosis. A case report.
BACKGROUND
Thoracic splenosis is a rare event, and fine needle aspiration (FNA) of a pleural implant of splenic tissue can be a pitfall when previous anamnestic data are ignored.


METHODS
A 53-year-old male underwent FNA of a left thoracic subpleural nodule highly suggestive of a metastatic lesion. The presence of a population of small and medium-sized lymphocytes suggested the possibility of lymphoproliferative disease; frozen sections confirmed this possibility. The final diagnosis was normal splenic tissue. Twenty-five years earlier the patient sustained a gunshot wound in the left side of the upper abdomen followed by splenectomy and drainage of the left pleural cavity because of mild, concomitant hemothorax.


CONCLUSIONS
A left pleural thoracic nodule in subjects with a previous history of traumatic rupture of the spleen must be considered highly suggestive of thoracic splenosis. Scintigraphy with Tc 99 m and magnetic resonance imaging are diagnostic, while FNA, especially in the absence of anamnestic data, can create a pitfall that can induce inappropriate removal of ectopic, normally functioning splenic tissue.
Renne
G
G
Department of Pathology, San Carlo Borromeo Hospital, Milan, Italy.
Coci
A
A
Biraghi
T
T
Schmid
C
C
D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D017890:Splenosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D013899:Thoracic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*