title: Spontaneous splenic artery hemorrhage with secondary antiphospholipid syndrome in lupus: a case report.
abstract: Spontaneous hemorrhage is a rare complication of lupus. We describe a 36-year old female with lupus who suffered spontaneous, nontraumatic hemorrhage from branches of the splenic artery with massive blood loss while being treated for a lupus flare. We compare this to the two other reported cases of similar lupus-associated splenic artery hemorrhage documented in the literature, both of which had significant pre-existing hemorrhagic risk factors. Spontaneous, nontraumatic hemorrhage of the splenic artery in the absence of risk factors, and in a patient with secondary antiphospholipid syndrome, has been previously undescribed in lupus.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois, College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA. itagaki@uiuc.edu
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Itagaki
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gregory
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016736:Antiphospholipid Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications*; D013158:Splenic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*