title: Spontaneous splenic rupture in Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We report the case of a patient with Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia complicated by spontaneous splenic rupture.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 49-year-old Caucasian woman was referred to our emergency department by her general practitioner following a three-week history of malaise, night sweats, six kilograms of weight loss, intermittent nausea and vomiting, progressive upper abdominal pain and easy bruising. On the fourth day following her admission, she had a rapid clinical deterioration, with subsequent radiological investigations revealing a splenic rupture. Her morphology, biochemistry, flow cytometry and histology were strongly suggestive of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spontaneous splenic rupture is not an expected complication of low-grade lymphoplasmacytic lymphomas, such as Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only reported case of early spontaneous splenic rupture due to Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. Our case highlights that despite the typical disease course of low-grade hematological malignancies, signs and symptoms of imminent splenic rupture should be considered when formulating a clinical assessment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology-Oncology, Royal Hobart Hospital, Tasmania, 7000, Australia. charakidis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Michail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Charakidis
authors.forename: David Joseph
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Russell
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