title: Congenital cleft spleen with CT scan appearance of high-grade splenic laceration after blunt abdominal trauma.
abstract: The spiral computed tomography (CT) scan has made the diagnosis of traumatic injury increasingly rapid and accurate, especially in cases of solid parenchymal organ injury that follows blunt abdominal trauma. Nonetheless, this valuable method of diagnosis can be confounded when anatomical variances are encountered in the setting of concomitant associated injuries. We present here a case where a congenitally bi-lobed spleen was diagnosed by CT scan as an apparent high-grade splenic laceration, prompting emergent laparotomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Todd V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.forename: Gerald S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Lipshutz
authors.forename: Andrew M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Posselt
authors.forename: Jan K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Horn
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D022125:Lacerations / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013154:Spleen / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery