title: Extensive abdominal splenosis: imaging features.
abstract: We present the case of a 22-year-old patient who had splenectomy in childhood after trauma and had a known chronic active infection with hepatitis C. Imaging procedures in different radiologic modalities diagnosed diffuse intraabdominal splenosis. Splenosis is a rare, severe complication of splenic trauma or surgery, but the pathogenesis is not clear. Imaging features play a key role in the diagnosis of ectopic splenic tissue, which must be differentiated from malignancies, especially from lymphoma. Splenosis itself may induce relapse of hematologic diseases, mainly autoimmune thrombocytopenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Klinikstr. 36, Justus-Liebig Universitaet Giessen, 35385 Giessen, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Greschus
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hackstein
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Puille
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Discher
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Rau
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013154:Spleen / Q000293:injuries; D013156:Splenectomy; D017890:Splenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*