title: Infective splenic rupture presenting with symptoms of a pulmonary embolism.
abstract: Splenic rupture following infectious mononucleosis is rare. The case history is presented of a man who presented with sudden onset pleuritic left chest pain. An ultrasound scan of the abdomen showed an enlarged spleen with an abnormal echo pattern and a CT scan of the abdomen showed severe splenic rupture. The patient remembered that he had been unwell 2 weeks earlier with flu-like symptoms and enlarged cervical lymph nodes. Serological examination was positive for Ebstein-Barr virus, confirming the diagnosis of splenic rupture following splenomegaly due to infectious mononucleosis. Management was initially conservative but he became haemodynamically unstable and an emergency splenectomy was performed.
authors.affiliation: Newham University Hospital, London E13 8SL, UK. mushtaqshah@googlemail.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muquit
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Azam
mesh_terms: D002637:Chest Pain / Q000209:etiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis; D013156:Splenectomy / Q000379:methods*; D013161:Splenic Rupture / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery / Q000821:virology; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000150:complications* / Q000821:virology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055815:Young Adult